Re: GG Chopin

[Bradley P Lehman <bpl@umich.edu>]

On Tue, 24 Mar 1998, Matthew White wrote:

>  Also, I was considering buying the GG plays Chopin until I read the
> Ostwald book, where he says it is an abomination, or something like that.
> Has anyone heard it? What's it like??

Depends on your personal definition of "abomination."  I enjoy that
performance as an experiment in hearing Chopin played with a much
different type of momentum than anyone else plays him.  I think it seems
rather monochromatic, in that his tempo treatment draws so much attention
that it's harder to notice what else is happening in the piece.  It
certainly doesn't sound very graceful or natural (but my expectations are
formed by the classic Lipatti recording).  I wish GG had picked Sonata 2
instead of 3 if he was going to play only one; the funeral march and last
movement of 2 could have been very interesting in a Gouldian
interpretation.  (That is, if GG's way with the Strauss five pieces and
the Beethoven "Funeral March" sonata are any indication in this regard.)

Bradley Lehman ~ Harrisonburg VA, USA ~ 38.44N+78.87W
bpl@umich.edu ~ http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bpl/
...driving rhetoric home with poetic learner's permit
...oh, great, my name anagrams to "Happily label him 'nerd'!"