Re: [F_MINOR] glenn gould's goldberg recordings

[Brad Lehman <bpl@UMICH.EDU>]

> In the case of the Goldberg -81, one must not forget that the Yamaha has
> a harsher, more metallic sound than a Steinway. That's something we
> can't change in hindsight. Gould didn't seem to mind.

Indeed.  But, in the "State of Wonder" analog issue, that Yamaha at least
sounds like a real Yamaha piano.  In the standard digital issue it's
harsher than they really are.

It seems to me that a realistic reproduction of an instrument should take
precedence over a distorted one.  For me, at least, listening to the analog
reissue has been a revelation, getting me to appreciate more positively an
interpretation that I really don't care for very much.  The digital version
strikes me as off-putting, as if Gould didn't care much about beautiful
tone anymore.  The analog one reveals that he still did, or at least that
he was *able to* produce beautiful tone.  The digital one strips away some
of his nuances, sounding (by comparison) stark and mechanical.  In my
opinion, of course.  That's after 20 years of listening to the digital one
and disliking it, on the grounds that I feel it's musically shallow.  Now,
in analog, I hear more depth in the interpretation.

Brad Lehman

**************************************************
Signoff instructions, and user preference interface:
http://email.rutgers.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=f_minor&A=1

F_minor Website (with early archive):
http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~mwatts/glenn
**************************************************