Re: some Gouldian Schubert & Scarlatti

["Kim Ponders" <kponders@earthlink.net>]

Dear Mr. Morrison,

Thank you for your considerate guidance in pointing out other pianists
similar to Gould. It is frustrating to the point of discouragement seeking
other players of his sophisticated level and confidant handling of Bach.
Unfortunately, I have not heard the Pogorelich pieces, though I have heard
all the others you mentioned aside from Rubsum. My ear is also regrettably
untrained, and I am fortunate to have someone very dear to me who sends me
tapes on occasion--trying forever and probably with some exasperation to
teach me the subtler nuances of music. He introduced me to Gould! In any
case, I wanted to agree with you that of all you list (that I have heard), I
believe Hewitt to be the best of the bunch.

Mr. Lehman,

Your analysis seems consistent with the Gramaphone blurb, but with a
different light. They seem to praise him for a deep reading and few
inconsistencies--do you think that he is being too true to the music?

Best,
Kim



> My recommendation is Ivo Pogorelich's 1986 recording of the Second and
Third
> English Suites.  To my regrettably untrained ear, in this recording
> Pogorelich comes closer to sounding like Gould than the more well-known
and
> available Bach-on-the-piano interpreters that I am familiar with: Schiff,
> Hewitt, Rubsum, Jando, Rosen and Tureck.  (Hewitt, by the way, gets my
> recommendation as the best of the bunch.) As the liner notes point out,
> there's a "powerful sense of forward motion" to Pogorelich's playing, a
> sense of momentum that seems to be almost uniquely Gouldian.  Here's a
> snippet of what Gramophone had to say about the recording.  Notice the
Gould
> comment.
>
> "These are deeply considered readings (so too were Gould's LPs on CBS M2
> 39682, 6/86, though laced with eccentricity) as well as marvellous
displays
> of pianistic control, bubblingly joyous in the Preludes, raptly
> contemplative in the Sarabandes, commanding your attention and respect
even
> when you don't agree with them. Pogorelich adds nothing to the score,
beyond
> a few ornamental inconsistencies, and the repeats (back to square one!)
are
> literal; to him, what Bach wrote is clearly sufficient. The recorded sound
> is of the very best; the LP slightly rounder and warmer.
> JD"
>
>
>
> Are other people  familiar with this recording and can they say what is
and
> is not Gouldian about it?  (Bradley, that's your cue, please.)
>
>
> Making a more abstract comparison, for me Richter's live 58 Pictures at an
> Exhibition displays a spirit of passionate and joyous solo piano adventure
> rivaled only by the 55 Goldbergs.  Anyone else sense a connection (other
> than being in mono and from the fifties :-) between these two classic
> recordings?
>
>
> Jim
>
>
>
>