Re: Salzburg recital at amazon uk

[Jim Morrison <jim_morrison@sprynet.com>]

From: "muramatsu masaaki

  The
> very first note of Sweelinks piece will draw you into a fantasy. Only
Gould
> can make piano sound like this."


thanks for the comments.  I think the Sweelink is a great Gouldian
performance
piece.

A different version can be found on the Consort of Musicke disc
that includes works by Byrd and Gibbons (surely an essential Gould disc
if there ever was one.  It, along with the 55 Goldbergs, English Suites,
Beethoven Pastorale Sym
and Partitas would be some of the last I would ever part with.  Let's hope
I'm never forced to make such a choice.)

The Fantasia, IMHO, is better recorded on the Salzburg disc
than from the CBC broadcast.

The timing on the Salzburg performance is 9:14
and the CBC version comes in at 7:11.
I find the slower tempo Salzburg performance more gripping and intense.

What a great way to open a recital.  Those first few bars really command
your attention.  Gould reminds me a bit of Richter here, the way
they both, when they begin to play a slow movement, promise
to hold the work together and provide interest
 in ways you would never have imagined, constant surprise
at a usually slow tempo, and delicate shadings with a light touch,
tempo increases not
forced or bizarre, simply dramatic, clearly relevant and well chosen.

I love Gould when he plays like this, more so
than in many of the slow movements from the later years, where the
notes seem to sound more isolated than they do in the earlier recordings.

You can also *see* Gould perform the CBC Sweelink on the Gould video
The End of Concerts, the Glenn Gould Collection III.

I think I'll try to watch it tonight.

Bye,


Jim