Re: "Which Goldberg Variations?" redux

[Mary Jo Watts <mwatts@rci.rutgers.edu>]

Bradley P Lehman wrote:

<snip>

> This "Which Goldbergs?" question comes up here regularly, and it's
> interesting to see the opinions and discussion that come up as the
> membership changes.  I've assembled a collection of my own postings here,
> going back into the f_minor archives.
> http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bpl/gg-bach.htm

<snip>

I'll pipe in and say the '81's all the way for me.  It's that recording
that allowed me (a musical layperson) to appreciate the earlier studio
recording. I'm putting the emphasis on recording here because I think that
the latter Goldbergs (and the Siegfried Idyll records) are so interesting
as technological explorations into the music.  They're really not at all
about *performance* per se so in the long run comparing the the earlier
versions and latter versions is like comparing apples and oranges as the
aims are so different. It's like Gould had at his disposal the means to
create a version from his music kit.  I'm going out on a limb and I'm
going to posit that by the date of the recording of the latter Goldbergs
Gould DID give up performing-- it was a mere coincidence that his fingers
touched the keys of the piano at all.  If he could have mixed the record
through other technological means (and in Dolby), he would just as well
have done so! Unlike the recorded performances from the 50's, the final
rendition of the Goldbergs was never meant to be performed in public.
I'd be interested to know how the medium defines the message and how this
shapes our taste and preferences for one recording over another.

Mary Jo Watts
mwatts@rci.rutgers.edu
listowner, f_minor