RE: [F_minor] Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata

["Houpt, Fred" <fred.houpt@rbc.com>]

I think that in order to (perhaps) move on from more discussion (opened
up by me) on the Moonlight, let us then close ranks and agree that speed
of playing is, at the end of the day, an esthetic.  It moves some, it
aggravates others.  We can't really derive an absolute here.  I mean,
sure GG's performance of Brahms Piano Concerto ranks as one of the most
perverse speeds ever attempted (in public) and critics were open mouthed
with horror/confusion, GG made his point, Leonard Bernstein made his
historic announcement to disassociate himself from his friends
performance and we all moved on.  That Brahms is very odd to listen to
but we all survived.

On a side note, I once heard a tape of GG experimenting with a Beethoven
Piano Concerto - perhaps it was 1 or 2?....and he hired a young pianist
and an orchestra.  So, he gets everyone in place and he says that he
fully knows that what he is about to ask them to do is completely
perverse and crazy but he wants to hear what it sounds like.  They
proceed to play (I think) the first movement at a super ultra slow
tempo.  The very familiar music was so altered that I just listened in
awe at how transformed it was.  You know, as crazy as his experiment
was, the beauty of Beethoven's music survived the time-tunnel
experiment.  It sounded as if the music was coming from another
dimension; that is what I recall. It was sort of a mind bending aural
experience.  Whether GG wanted to achieve this or why it occurred to him
I do not know. The experiment was very interesting and I hope that some
of you can track it down and listen for yourself.

I am telling you this long story because it highlights the lengths GG
took to examine velocity.  He was exploring, as usual, an effect in
performance that forces the music into extreme dimensions, thereby
revealing inner textures that our normal hearing/playing will not
reveal. How he sees into a piece is his genius.  Sometimes, I guess, we
just have to take it on faith that he has something he is trying to show
us or even himself and a good look/listen will be worth the effort.  

If I can remember, I will try to give my notes on the other Beethoven
sonata I heard GG play which I thought was outstanding.

Kind regards,

Fred Houpt
Toronto

[snip]
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