Re: F_MINOR Digest - 28 May 2002 to 29 May 2002 (#2002-86)

[Vincent Vo <Govincevo@aol.com>]

Gould not a romantic?!?  I'm one of the few admirers of Gould who probably
like his recordings of Brahms and Beethoven a lot more than his Bach. I do
prefer piano music of the 19th century more than any other, so I think it
would take a very romantic style of playing to convince me of the music's
interpretation. Glenn Gould probably recorded the most romantic of ANY
recording that I ever heard when he recorded the Brahms Intermezzi.

He even takes composers from the 18th century and makes them seem like
romantic composers. Take for instance the adagio from Mozart's c-minor
sonata, its the slowest version that I ever heard and almost sounds like a
Chopin nocturne.

But going back to Bach, I personally find Gould's most moving Bach
interpretations arises when he plays them romantically, i.e. puts a
de-emphasis on staccato, more use of the pedal, and (yikes!) a greater sense
of rubato. Does any f-minors remember his playing of the Contrapunctus 14 and
the Toccata from the 6th Partita? Thank goodness he didn't play those
staccato!