Re: GG's orthodox interpretations

[Bradley P Lehman <bpl@umich.edu>]

On Fri, 22 Jan 1999, Pat.Zumstein wrote:

> What about his Händel recording ?

Wacky.  He beats the harpsichord mercilessly, bashing the jacks into the
rail.  His way with the improvisatory preludes is pretty interesting (in a
strangely measured manner), but the rest of it is brutal.  GG did say he
was deliberately going against the norm of the harpsichord's expressive
techniques, and he definitely got that right!  Odd registrations, odd
touch, odd refusal to use expressive de-synchronization of the voices, odd
tempos, odd sewing-machine strictness, odd, odd, odd.  It was very clear
that he didn't practice these pieces on the harpsichord.  (And, obviously,
I don't consider his "my piano just fell off a truck" a sufficient excuse
to terrorize a harpsichord in this manner, treating it as a surrogate
piano.  A couple months of practice on the harpsichord might have made
this album a whole lot better.)

So, as a musical experiment I think it's worth hearing, but as harpsichord
playing it's a travesty.  GG didn't take the harpsichord's possibilities
seriously, so he imposed a foreign technique and aesthetic onto it.  He
could have become a great harpsichordist if he'd applied himself to it.  
He halfway redeems the Handel effort through his powerful musicality and
his engaging humor.  It's not completely a loss.  It's definitely
entertaining, energetic, and a-thrill-a-minute, which is better than being
boring.  How many liters of double-double coffee were wiring this man's
synapses during the sessions?

Bradley Lehman ~ Harrisonburg VA, USA ~ 38.45716N+78.94565W
bpl@umich.edu ~ http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bpl/ 
(harpsichordist)