[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

GG FW: <inquiry> Bernstein/Gould pfm in April 1962



I have just sent the following inquuiry mail to 
the archivist of the New York Philharmonic 
on the Gould/Bernstein legendary performance
of Brahms D minor.

The crucial question is the date of the survived recording:
April 6 (Friday), 1962 (the notorious snail performance) or 
April 8 (Sunday), 1962 (relatively faster perfromance).
(There was also one on April 5,  as the "Thursday 
night preview", but the recording is not from April 5 definitely.)

I am not sure if the archivist will give me a verified
information.

If anyone knows something to decide the date,
do let me know.

Thank you in advance.

Regards,

Junichi

P.S.  Bernstein says in the speech:
". . . and I can assure you that it has been an 
adventure *this week* collaboration with Mr. Gould on 
this Brahms concerto, . . ."
Can "this week" be a key word to decide the
speech and performance were made on Friday or on Sunday?


-----Original Message-----
差出人 : Junichi Miyazawa <walkingtune@bigfoot.com>
宛先 : nyphlarc@panix.com <nyphlarc@panix.com>
CC : 工藤恭子 様 
日時 : 1998年4月27日 10:07
件名 : <inquiry> Bernstein/Gould pfm in April 1962


>Dear Barbara Haws,
>
>I am a music critic in Tokyo.  Being a consultant of 
>Sony Classical Japan for their new releases of the
>performances by Glenn Gould, let me ask you
>some questions for the New York philharmonic
>activities.
>
>Soon, Sony is going to release officially the legendary 
>performance of Brahms' D minor Concerto by 
>Glenn Gould with Leonard Bernstein in April 1962, 
>for which the conductor did not agree with the 
>interpretation (an extremely slow performance), 
>so that he made an introductory speech 
>expressing the discrepancy.
>
>Let me ask some questions on the performance(s).
>
>1.  The dates of the concerts.
>Was the collaboration made *three* times?:
>April 5, Thursday;  April 6, Friday;  April 8 Sunday?
>
>2. What time did they start respectively?
>
>3. What orchestral works were performed besides 
>the concerto?
>
>4. One of the performances was recorded and broadcast
>on April 9 (Monday).  Is it possible to decide which one was 
>recorded?  Probably it was not the April 5 (Thrs) performance,
>for in the speech, Bernstein says "I'm not ... in the 
>habit of speaking on any concert except the Thursday 
>night previews."  Accordingly, the survived performance
>is either from the April 6 or April 8 concerts.
>
>The previous CD release of the performance by Music & Arts
>was credited as "April 6".  If it is the case, are you able to
>verify the date?
>
>The performance in April 6 was an extremely slow one,
>which was attacked by Harold Shoenberg in the review.
>Gould was so upset that he played a faster performance
>in April 9.  Sony and I would like to know the survived 
>recording is the slower one or the faster one.
>
>As a matter of fact,  Leonard Bernstein once said 
>the broadcast performance was the faster one,
>that is, the April 9 version (Otto Friedrich, 
>*Glenn Gould: A life and Variations, Random House, 
>1989, p.105), but his words have not yet been verified.
>
>I am looking forward to hearing from you ASAP.
>
>Thank you in advance.
>
>Yours sincerely,
>
>Junichi Miyazawa
>
>cc. Kyoko Kudo, Sony Classical, Tokyo
>
>
>****************************************
>  Junichi Miyazawa, Tokyo 
>  walkingtune@bigfoot.com / junichi@poetic.com
>****************************************
>  http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/3739
>
>