Fw: Richter, Gould-moving with the flow.....

[Jost Ammon <Jost.Ammon@telda.net>]

I admit having difficulty with this topic since it seems so obvious for me
that I don't think I have to say a word.

I see GG as a musical medium. The aspect of his performing to me seems
another medium in which the music expresses itself. F.i. his conducting - it
helps me getting more transparancy out of the music. What is it else as some
way of dancing? Dancing is in much the same way of - not only rhythmical,
but also dynamical, suspense related and so on - musical expression. Even
his humming makes the music breathing for me. It seems to belong to the
music, it underlines aspects that are there, but usually are not profiled.
His accompagnato for me is simply a sign of his ecstatic plunge into the
music, a music that emancipates from his performer.

I think it is not so difficult to distinguish between fake and real
emotional accompagnato of the music.

And then it simply depends on the individuum. May I take a jazz example? Pat
Metheny very much accompanies his performing with facial movements as he
sort of "sings" his lines and compensates his inner tension while playing
(another expression for what GG presumably does). Lyle Mays, who plays
incredible suspense driven improvisations that are in the same time so
complex that the term "real time composition" is appropriate , doesn't move
a single little bit at the piano. He says "I'm all busy to come up with the
good notes, to prevent the whole developpement from stall, so I don't have
the luxury of emotional feeling and expression".

Personally, when I'm all alone listening I wildly conduct the music, but
when I used to perform I didn't move a lot for I felt it lessened my
concentration.

As for GG I just think it is what makes GG GG.

Jost







----- Original Message -----
From: Alice DuBois <Adubois@NILESLIBRARY.ORG>
To: <F_MINOR@EMAIL.RUTGERS.EDU>
Sent: Saturday, December 02, 2000 7:24 PM
Subject: Richter, Gould-moving with the flow.....


> I question that Gould's movement while playing was staged in any way only
> because when i watch tapes of him playing, I  actually feel sort of
> embarrassed for him (or by him?)!  I guess I don't believe that someone
> would purposely *look* that way for affectation.  Perhaps I am wrong, and
I
> guess we'll never know for sure, but it just seems like it would have been
a
> lot of effort to do all that moving around and making ecstatic faces and
> also focusing on the music?  Maybe it depended on what and why he was
> playing (any musicians out there with some input?).
> I'm a painter, and fortunately don't do it in front of an audience, but
> when I am in that world I really don't have the duality to notice my
> appearance and also focus on painting.  When someone else is present when
> I'm painting, invariably what i paint turns out awful (my attention isn't
> allowed to be fully in what i'm doing since i'm aware of them watching me)
.
>
>
> Ps, that Richter Video is a treat.  Richter seems charming and funny, also
> very melancholy and reflective.  I believe in one segment he actually
drools
> while playing!  I don't think *that* was staged!  And i know from looking
at
> old posts that the scene with Gould talking about Richter is an obvious
> Dub-over in an British accent, what was that about?
> One thing that struck me about this film was the difference in personality
> between Gould and Richter:  Richter's wife talks about how he was
oblivious
> to physical elements and could sleep curled up under the piano, Richter
> talks so candidly about his inner emotions, etc.  My favourite part is
when
> he says "the other cellists behaved like CHRULs and giggled" when one
> cellist has a very difficult passage in a Prokofiev piece.  Wonderful
> footage and a well-made documentary-it's not just facts, but a work of art
> in itself.
> { Directed by Bruno Monsaingeon *wink*)
>
>
> Alice
>