Re: GG and Mozart

[Kristen Immoor <kimmoor@mindspring.com>]

At 2:15 PM -0400 9/4/97, Greg Romero wrote:
>     Gould disliked Mozart simply because he wasn't able to form a mature
>interpretation of Mozart's works for piano.  Instead he resorted to
>self-conscious hectoring of Mozart and a refusal to take any but the least
>important of Mozart's work for the keyboard seriously.  Gould rarely took
>on established pieces, other than Bach's, in the repertoire because he
>felt that unless he played them in an obviously tongue-in-cheek or
>eccentric manner, he wouldn't be able to compete with other more
>main-stream pianists.

    Nope, I really have to just plain disagree with this one. Although I
can definitely sypmathise with the critics who find Gould's interpretations
of Mozart and the Romantic composers (what few interpretations he made of
the Romantics) to be the ravings of a madman, I really don't think the
argument can be made that Gould "couldn't keep up" with the more
main-stream pianists.
    In interpretation Gould may very well have been a freak, I can't argue
with authority either way on that, but in pure technical skill GG was one
hell of a pianist, beyond question. His finger speed was astounding, his
technical accuracy was reported to have been near perfection, and he could
wring from a piece so much pure emotion and depth, I have no reason to
believe he couldn't have schmaltzed through a Chopin or bounced through a
Mozart like the best of them. (Studio techs have noted that his jocular
attempts at mock Mozart & Chopin were quite lovely.) I readily admit that
much of what Gould said on record about "the only reason to record a work
is to provide a new and intriguing interpretation of the piece" (my
paraphrasing) smacks of falsity, but I am more inclined to believe that it
was because he rehearsed his interviews so many times that his words lost
sincerity rather than because his principle wasn't valid.
    Assuming that Gould accepted the scholarly importance of the
Beeth/Mozart sonatas but genuinely did not subscribe to the exalted
position they hold in classical music, it would be natural for him to want
to go against the grain in his recordings, if not out of rebellion (which
we knew he occasionally felt the need for) then out of the pure desire to
provide the alternative to the traditional (another hallmark of Glenn.)
It's almost as if he were saying to the audience "I know how *you* hear
Mozart, but here's how *I* hear Mozart..." It's like another language.
    Regardless of his intentions, I cannot deny that there is most
definitely an audience for his recordings of these composers, foolish as
those recordings may seem to the average classical listener. Personally, I
am one who enjoys GG's Beethoven and Mozart, and it is the precisely
selfish audacity of it all that I love. I respect the brain that I hear
behind the music on those GG Beeth/Mozart sonatas; the playfully arrogant,
genuinely pedagoguish pianist who was determined to leave his mark, by hook
or by crook. The way I see it, if I want to hear Mozart or Beethoven I'll
listen to Perahia or Kentner. If I want to hear Glenn Gould play Mozart or
Beethoven, I'll listen to... well, you know. Something tells me that's
exactly the result he was after. I enjoy the personality that is present in
Gould's recordings, mainly because he is not trying to channel the spirit
of a dead composer; instead, he is imbuing the recording with his own
personality. I respect that, there's something very human about it. (Gould?
Human? Impossible! ;-)
    As a side note, I too agree with Ostwald's assertion that Flora Gould's
distaste for the 'Mozart complex' may have played a significant role in
shaping Glenn's attitudes toward the composer. I can easily see that Glenn
the adult would find the "performing monkey" aspects of Mozart's prodigious
childhood offensive, and would want to disassociate himself from the role
completely, if only by belittling or significantly altering the composer's
works. Further along the path of the armchair psychiatrist, I also agree
with Tim (but I *always* agree with Tim ;-) that Gould may have had beef
with Mozart because he resented Mozart's use of shiny happy major keys.
That really seems to fit in with the curmudgeonly Gould personae.
   Bottom line, I enjoy the Gould Beethoven & Mozart sonatas, even though
every time I hear him play the Beeth. Bagatelle 5 in C Maj. I picture
Victor Borge running his hands to the end of the keyboard and then falling
off the piano bench...

Best regards,
Kristen

______________________________________________________________________________

"There must be room for mess, for vulgarity. Sometimes, we have to touch
people."

                                  -- Bruce Charlton, writing as Glenn Gould