Re: Glenn Gould in Space

[jerry and judy <jerbidoc@zianet.com>]

>> > I'm a Bach fan as well.  I only own one Glenn Gould recording.  It
>> is the
>> > CBS version of Piano Concertos 1,4, and 5 (BWV 1052, 1055, 1056).
>> I've
>> > listened to it several times and it does not seem to deviate much at
>> all
>> > from other interpretations of these works.
>> >
>> > Could you suggest some Glenn Gould recordings that are more bizarre
>> interpre-
>> > tations?  Thanks.
>> >

>> > Daniel Testa
>> email:testad@rpi.edu
>>
>> Gould's first movement of the Appassionata is the worst runthrough of
>> this piece ever recorded!  The worst recording ever recorded! <spit> <spit>
>> Whewww!
>> Rent it, don't buy it!
>> I'm not a big fan of the movement but if ever there was a cd to buy to
>> throw darts at!!!
>>
>> On the other hand, Gould's recording of the last Haydn sonata is truly
>> worth the price of the whole double cd set. And most of the
>> performances of the other sonatas are among the best available, but
>> they're a little "different".
>>
>> His Mozart and Brahms are wacky.
>> His Beethoven is uneven.  He gives the best performance I've heard of
>> the Op106 fugue.
>> His Schoenberg is right on!  Better than the more romanticized
>> versions, but not without "heart".
>> Some of his Bach is scandalous, but not boring!
>>
>> His Bryd and Gibbons are a revelation!!  Just set this one on to
>> repeat and leave it on all day!  You'll start hallucinating!
>> Where does this *music* come from?
>
> Hi.  In terms of "bizarre", GG's recording of the last Beethoven sonata
>is thought by many to be his worst recording; i like it myself but...
>The first movement is very different.  This was his second recording ,
>commercial, and i think the only Beethoven recording of GG to go out of
>print in his lifetime.

It's very fast. I get the feeling (even though it's not true) that Glenn
wanted the brilliant passages to sound as brilliant as possible and then he
tested how fast he could play the theme and subthemes without sounding too
maniacal. I will say that on other recordings I've heard the passage of
four half notes from the high F to low Dflat and D to the very high C flat
always seems to be out of place, too slow! but not in the Gould! and the
eight bar final coda doesn't drag at all. :-)  Maybe this is what the old
man had in mind, if it is it's (very nearly) unplayable and I can see that
intriguing GG!

Gould's recording of the final movement is not *raggy* to my surprise. He
starts
the second mvmnt adagio cantabile ( or slower) and continues a hint of the
mood from the opening bars into var.3 (the ragtime-sounding one = "violent
joy"). He keeps the brakes on with very slight ritards throughout the
variation and on through to the long ending.
  I remember Brendel as being the most "bombastic", but it might have been
my mood. I like it either way, this sonata is by itself, a whole musical
world in its richness and contrasts.  Schnabel stretches out the phrases
more, to good effect, IMO.

>J&J are correct; his Mozart are really whacky; the tempi are so slow and
>so fast I find it hard to believe that GG was not thinking just how
>slow/fast can i play this thing.
>I still like them though.

Some say his use of staccato, open chords etc. in Mozart and his choice of
tempo are in bad taste, but when I first heard the first seven or so of
these sonatas on record back in the sixties they inspired me to learn
classical piano! I was playing pop piano (very badly) at the time and these
interpretations single-handedly hooked me on classical music!  As a youth,
I figured if this high quality music could be played so audaciously and
"irreverently" I wanted to try out my own versions! and I eventually did.
I guess I've gotten conservative since then because now when I read through
them at sight I don't hear GG, I hear Barenboim, de la Rocha or even
Entremont.   And now I can barely stand to listen to some of the GG
movements.  Either Glenn was wrong or Wolfie was, or I'm getting old.  :-)
>
>Cordially,
>
>Sean
Thanks for replying,
Jerry