Jeff Moore said the following on 02/22/2006 06:39 PM: > 2006-01-31-05:58:16 Robin Bowes: > >>Pat Farrell said the following on 01/31/2006 06:01 AM: >> >>>In the classical world, a great set is >>>Goldberg Variations - Glenn Gould - 1981 CBS Masterworks by Glenn Gould >> >>Bleurch! His '81 interpretation is awful compared to his earlier 1955 >>recording. Fairly well recorded though. > > > Okay, I'm late stumbling back to this thread, but I certainly can't let > that stand -- such judgements are of course pure matters of taste
But of course! >, so > let me express an entirely different taste. Go ahead... > The question is mostly moot, because both performances are in their way > revolutionary illuminations of what Bach wrote down, and I'd contend > that both are absolutely essential parts of one's collection. Gould > was... well, Gould. I'm sure some continue to resent the thoroughness > with which he made the music he played his own, becoming almost a > co-author, and indeed if I want to hear a more "straight" (if still > brilliant) rendition of a Bach or Beethoven keyboard piece I might go > to, say, Brendel... Or Richter. > But back to the Gould Goldbergs. The 1955 recording has a compelling > youthful energy, a propulsive flow as he rips through the pieces at > what seems a breakneck pace (especially once one's developed a taste > for the 1981 rendition). The 1981 version, though... he's had another > quarter-century to think about the music, and it shows. This performance > is akin to travelling along the musical staff with a magnifying glass, > as Gould shows you exactly what's living in the spaces between each set > of notes. Amazing. > > And, yes, not to everybody's taste. But you owe it to yourself to > listen, really listen, to both recordings. I have both recordings and will assign myself the task of listening to both tonight - I'll start with the 1981 as I currently prefer the 1955. > And this is without going into the kind-of-spooky way these recordings > bookended both Gould's performing life, and the use of the Columbia 30th > Street Studios... Indeed. I presume you have seen/own "32 Short Films" ... ? R. _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
