Richter, Gould-moving with the flow.....

[Alice DuBois <Adubois@NILESLIBRARY.ORG>]

I question that Gould's movement while playing was staged in any way only
because when i watch tapes of him playing, I  actually feel sort of
embarrassed for him (or by him?)!  I guess I don't believe that someone
would purposely *look* that way for affectation.  Perhaps I am wrong, and I
guess we'll never know for sure, but it just seems like it would have been a
lot of effort to do all that moving around and making ecstatic faces and
also focusing on the music?  Maybe it depended on what and why he was
playing (any musicians out there with some input?).
I'm a painter, and fortunately don't do it in front of an audience, but
when I am in that world I really don't have the duality to notice my
appearance and also focus on painting.  When someone else is present when
I'm painting, invariably what i paint turns out awful (my attention isn't
allowed to be fully in what i'm doing since i'm aware of them watching me) .


Ps, that Richter Video is a treat.  Richter seems charming and funny, also
very melancholy and reflective.  I believe in one segment he actually drools
while playing!  I don't think *that* was staged!  And i know from looking at
old posts that the scene with Gould talking about Richter is an obvious
Dub-over in an British accent, what was that about?
One thing that struck me about this film was the difference in personality
between Gould and Richter:  Richter's wife talks about how he was oblivious
to physical elements and could sleep curled up under the piano, Richter
talks so candidly about his inner emotions, etc.  My favourite part is when
he says "the other cellists behaved like CHRULs and giggled" when one
cellist has a very difficult passage in a Prokofiev piece.  Wonderful
footage and a well-made documentary-it's not just facts, but a work of art
in itself.
{ Directed by Bruno Monsaingeon *wink*)


Alice