RE : "Which Goldberg Variations?" redux

[PEYRET Aymeric-Pierre <peyret.aymeric@EC-LILLE.FR>]

Hello!

I bought my first Gould record when I was 13 - I am now 20 - : it was
the Bach's Toccatas. I liked this record - even if Gould did not like
the toccatas, he played them in a very romantic manner (that's my
feeling) - but I did not buy anything else until 1998: I bought the 1955
Goldbergs which stayed in my CD player without interruption during more
than 1 week; than I began discovering GG's other Bach's and Beethoven's
recordings, but I waited 2 years more to buy the other Goldbergs (The
complete Gould-recordings are expensive for a student...), because I
thought Gould could not have made a better recording than the 1955 one.
But then I discovered that I liked the 1981 much better than the other
versions, I think because the bass is not just here to accompany the
right hand, but is a real voice in this music, which is difficult to
understand with the 1955 and 1959 versions (I do not say anything about
the 1954, which are historically interesting, but in which GG (even
him!) made mistakes, and which are not better than the 1955...). Yes,
the contrapuntal music requires slower tempi than those of the 1955! I
still think that the 1955 are the best when you want to have a rest...
but that the 1981 are also played in a more romantic and contrapuntal
manner. I think one cannot listen to the 81 recording without having
heard a lot of other GG's recordings ; you have to have a "Gouldian
hear" to listen to them...

There is only one thing I do not understand in Gould's performances. CBS
put the latter Goldbergs on 1 track, because GG said it was 1 complete
piece and not 32 different little tracks... But Gould ends the 1st aria
(for example) very quietly, and then begins the 1st variation with a
much louder "touch", which he did not do in the 55 version, so I just
feel the contrary! It is easier to listen to the 55 version all at once
than to the 1981 without paying attention to the variation changes. I
would like to know if the other members feel it also...

                AP PEYRET

PS : As for the Wagner recordings, it is the only Gould disc I have
bought and listened maximum 5 times. I always go to sleep after that...
When I speak about Gould to friends who do not know him, I play this CD
to show them a "4-hand recording by 1 only man", but say them it is the
only interest of the CD. Other Gould recordings are always very "clear
played", I just hear a loud noise when listening to this CD.

-----Message d'origine-----
Objet?: Re: "Which Goldberg Variations?" redux

Bradley P Lehman wrote:

<snip>

> This "Which Goldbergs?" question comes up here regularly, and it's
> interesting to see the opinions and discussion that come up as the
> membership changes.  I've assembled a collection of my own postings
here,
> going back into the f_minor archives.
> http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bpl/gg-bach.htm

<snip>

I'll pipe in and say the '81's all the way for me.  It's that recording
that allowed me (a musical layperson) to appreciate the earlier studio
recording. I'm putting the emphasis on recording here because I think
that
the latter Goldbergs (and the Siegfried Idyll records) are so
interesting
as technological explorations into the music.  They're really not at all
about *performance* per se so in the long run comparing the the earlier
versions and latter versions is like comparing apples and oranges as the
aims are so different. It's like Gould had at his disposal the means to
create a version from his music kit.  I'm going out on a limb and I'm
going to posit that by the date of the recording of the latter Goldbergs
Gould DID give up performing-- it was a mere coincidence that his
fingers
touched the keys of the piano at all.  If he could have mixed the record
through other technological means (and in Dolby), he would just as well
have done so! Unlike the recorded performances from the 50's, the final
rendition of the Goldbergs was never meant to be performed in public.
I'd be interested to know how the medium defines the message and how
this
shapes our taste and preferences for one recording over another.

Mary Jo Watts
mwatts@rci.rutgers.edu
listowner, f_minor