Re: Gould vs Horowitz / Brendel vs Gould

[Juozas Rimas <JuozasRimas@TAKAS.LT>]

"Gould crosses these limits voluntarily, or he does not notice
them. Something inside him is at cross angles to the pieces he plays.
Apparently this seems very attractive to many people. It makes me mad
sometimes."

Interesting, was he mad listening to Gould's interpretation of the BWV924 or 926
Praeambulum? No limits are taken into account there. But the performances are
resfreshing, non-standard, alive. How many more identical performances does the
quoted person want to hear?


"Glenn Gould made up his own rules - the word rules is not correct here I
find. Obsessions were the guidelines along which he performed and which
make his recordings seem so uniform in the way Gould treats the composers."

I have listened too little to the non-Bach recordings of Gould to judge about
the uniform treating of all composers. But the way Gould treats Bach cannot by
any means called uniform. His approach changes from piece to piece, or even
inside the same piece.
If you want to hear uniformity in action, listen to Rubsams Sinfonias. When I
first listened to his interpretation of the 15th sinfonia it appeared
wonderfully innovative. But I laughed in an hour because ALL other sinfonias
were treated in the exactly same manner. Rubsam's waving tempo is okay for one
or two pieces but, excuse me - not for the whole cycle.... So the word
uniformity has never crossed my mind when listening to Gouldian Bach but I can't
say the same about certain other performers.

Juozas Rimas Jr
http://mp3.com/JuozasRimas