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Re: Gould on Mozart?



-----Original Message-----
From: Vincent Vo <Govincevo@AOL.COM>
To: F_MINOR@EMAIL.RUTGERS.EDU <F_MINOR@EMAIL.RUTGERS.EDU>
Date: Wednesday, March 27, 2002 2:41 AM
Subject: Re: Gould on Mozart?

... makes the listener realize how
>cheated we are that Gould never recorded the Mozart sonatas with a little
>more respect to the score and to the composer.
 
No no! I'm not cheated at all! Gould's performances of Mozart are the treasures of my musical life!
 
Once a composer publishes his compositions, he understands and accepts that the performers of each new generation are free to interpret them as they wish. So many recordings of Mozart's piano sonatas are museum-esque, lifeless, so respectful as to be uninspiring and boring; they help to keep Mozart dead.
 
Forgive my liberty with the opinions of the dead, but Mozart would have loved the enthusiasm and vibrancy with which Gould approached his work. Gould re-invented Mozart, and in a gorgeous, lush, electrifying way for the listener. He transformed Mozart from background Muzak to foreground music. Gould's Mozart thrills me endlessly, I never tire of it, I have never found fault or flaw.
 
Bob