Re: [F_minor] Glenn Gould

[Brad Lehman <bpl@umich.edu>]

Singh wrote:
> The only evidence for what I have said that I know of, is in the 
> Penguin Guide, where Glenn Gould's recordings (although mentioned) 
> frequently rank below other pianists renditions of the same work. 
> Sometimes even strikingly so. For example, his 1982 Goldberg 
> Variations was given 3 stars out of a possible 4, but two of those 
> stars were questionned in the text below the rating. His inventions I 
> think were similarly dealt with.

Well, Gould's interpretations (especially of Bach) *are* _sui generis_ 
enough that they infuriate some people, or come across as merely 
perverse or arbitrarily odd.  They're not necessarily very good 
interpretations to give to students to try to emulate, either, since 
Gould wasn't interested in using historically-verifiable techniques; the 
students would learn "wrong" things and then have to unlearn them 
later.  Instead, Gould made his own modern way and was convincing at 
it.  (Well, I guess I already said that, essentially, with "_sui 
generis_".) 

The Penguin is perhaps trying to recommend safe mainstream choices to 
its readers.  Some publications do that, shying away from iconoclasm.

Also remember in general: penguins are small flightless birds.

=====

I'm not happy with the inventions recording, myself.  I've been 
listening to it again several times recently, after I've owned earlier 
copies both on LP and CD for about 20 years.  My quarrel isn't so much 
with the gulping piano and its surgical problems, but rather with 
Gould's choices of very fast or very slow tempos, and his machine-gun 
sameness of inflection (i.e. not enough inflection) of dynamics or 
articulation within those lines to make them seem like natural 
expression.  The notes are just too much the same as one another, for my 
preferences, and for my current understandings of Baroque performance 
practices and the art of communication.  Getting past the "wow" level of 
Gould's delivery for its own clean sake, I find I'm bored with the 
interpretation.

I'm aware that a lot of people still like this inventions recording 
anyway, and find that it reaches them.  Fine; but if the piece has to be 
played on piano, Rubsam's recording reaches me a lot better than Gould's 
does.  I find Rubsam's flexibility very attractive in that performance.

And I'm eager to hear Peter Watchorn's new recording of the 
inventions/sinfonias on harpsichord, to be released any day or week 
now.  It will show up at
http://www.musicaomnia.org/bachharpsichord.asp
when it is.


Brad Lehman

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