From: Bill Larson <william.larson@yahoo.com>
To: "F_MINOR@EMAIL.RUTGERS.EDU" <F_MINOR@EMAIL.RUTGERS.EDU>
Subject: [F_minor] Zenph Goldbergs
Date: Mon, 3 Sep 2007 12:40:21 -0700 (PDT)
After two listens, I'm not sure where to start-- I'm rather disappointed.
The overall sound quality is murky and does not remotely resemble any
acoustic in which Gould ever recorded. The piano sounds like the Yamaha
that it is (why couldn't Zenph have adapted an actual Steinway to the
purpose??). The hammers make a sound which actually becomes more velvety
and neutral as the "playing" becomes louder, I think. This is noticeable
on the binaural recording in particular (which has somewhat of a hole in
the middle-- with headphones, I feel as though there are soundboards on
either side of me). Overall, it sounds like a digital piano, with digital
echo.
On to the performance. It's remarkable that the technology was able to
recover as much information as it did. But I don't think this should have
been released until further refinements were made. I hear occasional
missing notes and clumsy phrases that I don't recall from the original
recording. In a few instances, notably var. 17 (simultaneous 16th-note
scale passages in both hands, staccato), the synchronization between the
hands is off, with the left hand generally in the lead. Also, there is
none of the human touch regarding hammer speeds and adding tiny bits of
pedal bloom, which would give the melodic material more sustain and
carrying power.
Considering both the sound and the playing, it sounds like the performance
was prepared by engineers, not musicians. It appears that the performance
was approved by someone who does not personally play the piano very well,
therefore unperceptive to nuance; and it sounds like the microphone setup
and room acoustic were chosen to sound inoffensively pretty, rather than
with the aim of serving the music. Superficially I think it's quite an
achievement, but it's not ready for prime time. I'm rather glad that the
$18.99 didn't come out of MY pocket. It sounds to me like a recording of
someone who doesn't play the piano very well, imitating Glenn Gould.
(P.S.--This last sentence ties in to the recent discussion of godlike
versus human perspectives on Gould. I was once playing in a competition in
Washington D.C. in which the only required piece was Goldbergs. Another
competitor was basically a human Zenph of Gould: he was balding, he hummed
and swayed, I believe he brought a low chair, and he copied Gould's
performance to the letter-- every ornament and every repeat was exactly
what Gould did in 1981. I truly mean EXACTLY. Like the Zenph, a few
erroneous notes crept in.)
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