the big question for GG aficionados

[jerbidoc@jaws.greatwhite.com (jerry and judy)]

His Beethoven is uneven, too fast or distractingly slow, as in the Mozart
sonatas i.e. never boring (which actually turned me on to playing the
easier ones myself as a teenager (and interjecting my own
eccentricities...)).
The worst recording he ever approved for release is his first movement of
the Appassionata no.23!  I wouldn't part with it though!!  I play it when
I'm in the mood and just marvel(?) at his flamboyance.  I believe he said
his recordings weren't worth the effort if they weren't different than what
was already available. Anyway this one is worth the price of the set.

The Haydn sonatas are unmistakably Gould at his best and the tour de force
No. 62 (Hoboken XVI No.52), Haydn's last sonata, is again worth the price
of the whole set!  If you get to know this recording over a period of weeks
it will not only reward you with an insight into one of Gould's greatest
interpretations but also of the convincing power and depth of late Haydn
(which I was not aware of after playing him all my life and ranking him a
lesser master in the piano literature!).  This recording begs the question:
Is the interpretive artist able to conjure up from the bare notes more than
what the composer was able to appreciate in his time?  I believe GG would
say no, but I am no so confident....