Kevin's Watch

Today is a milestone for me, because I bought my first Goldberg Variations CD. Alas, there was no Glenn Gould at the Barnes and Noble, so I settled with a recording by Andras Schiff. I'm usually a stickler for authentic Baroque on period pieces, but Schiff is so good that I can ignore his oh-so-Romantic qualities. Still, looking forward to sampling from the waters of Gould.

I also have Beethoven's Diabelli Variations, as played by Claudio Arrau. Certainly a joy, but I'm highly anticipating Maurizio Pollini's rendtiion, which is on its way.

I find myself sometimes feeling empty after I buy someone like Schliff and then check Amazon.com, only to find disparaging reviews. I begin to wonder why people are so adamant about their classical music recordings. I mean, they're arguing about Schliff and Gould. What next, arguing about Gods? I say you can't lose, either way; they're both masterful; the interpretations ultimately boil down to preference--if you like Romantic Baroque or authentic flavor.

I also have all the variations that Brahms did: Theme by Paganini, Theme by Handel, R. Schumann, anonymous Hungarian song, etc. Brahms could definitely twist that stuff around into some ingenius fugues.

My two Goldberg recordings are harpsichord - Trevor Pinnock and Pierre Hantaï. Both are excellent. Although I've always loved playing Bach on the piano, and never owned a harpsichord, I generally go for period instruments. I also want the full thing, with all the repeats, which Hantaï delivers in 77'26. I've heard some of Schiff's WTC, and thought it was great. And I have no doubt Gould is as good as his fans say. IMO, Bach is as romantic a composer as any, and I don't mind people having great fun with it!

Lord Foul wrote:I find myself sometimes feeling empty after I buy someone like Schliff and then check Amazon.com, only to find disparaging reviews. I begin to wonder why people are so adamant about their classical music recordings. I mean, they're arguing about Schliff and Gould. What next, arguing about Gods? I say you can't lose, either way; they're both masterful; the interpretations ultimately boil down to preference--if you like Romantic Baroque or authentic flavor.

I have often wondered this myself. Can you not find joy in more than one version of a stunning piece of music?

Today the local jazz station was playing some jazz versions of some classical music, by such artists as Duke Ellington. I am trying to be good (especially since the credit cards have all been payed off for a couple of months now) but I am so tempted to go to the radio station play list and then hit Amazon that it is not even funny.

Fist and Faith wrote:My two Goldberg recordings are harpsichord - Trevor Pinnock and Pierre Hantaï.

www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000057CK/sr ... oding=UTF8

That the Pinnock one you're talking about? Sounds great! Most definitely on my wishlist, now, along with Mozart's Piano Concertos. Oh, and Bach's cello suites are coming in, as well as Brahms' Violin Concerto.

Lord Foul wrote:

Fist and Faith wrote:My two Goldberg recordings are harpsichord - Trevor Pinnock and Pierre Hantaï.

www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000057CK/sr ... oding=UTF8

That the Pinnock one you're talking about? Sounds great! Most definitely on my wishlist, now,

Um, yeah, that's the recording. I have NO idea why it is so expensive!! Actually, I'm surprised it's still in print. It's been at least 15 years. I'd have thought it was re-released at midprice by now.

Anyway, I more highly recommend the Hantai you pm'd me about.

Lord Foul wrote:along with Mozart's Piano Concertos. Oh, and Bach's cello suites are coming in, as well as Brahms' Violin Concerto.

Didn't I send you Bach's cello suites? Or are you just going for another recording. Music of a solo performer on an instrument with such different possibilities should definitely rate more than one recording!

I honestly have not had the patience for any other version of the Goldbergs after listening to Glenn Gould's 1981 recording. I mean, after hearing perfection, why bother with anybody else?

It's all terribly subjective, of course. Gould is either a god or a dog in the Goldberg Variations to you, depending on how much of a Bach "purist" you are.

To me, his 1981 version is the definitive performance. Maybe not of Goldberg, but of Gould's Variations. I have a hunch that no other pianist thought as deeply about the Goldbergs as Gould did. I mean, he completely re-thought how he approached the music after his initial 1955 recording. This was the only piece of music that Gould recorded twice - the only piece that compelled him to come back to it after so many years. It's just eerie and poetic that the Goldberg Variations would come to mark both the beginning and the end of Gould's recording career.

There is, however, Keith Jarrett's version of the Goldbergs which I would really like to listen to.

Fist and Faith wrote:

Lord Foul wrote:along with Mozart's Piano Concertos. Oh, and Bach's cello suites are coming in, as well as Brahms' Violin Concerto.

Didn't I send you Bach's cello suites? Or are you just going for another recording. Music of a solo performer on an instrument with such different possibilities should definitely rate more than one recording!

Heh, you've sent me so much stuff you can't remember! But nah, this is my first dive with the cello sonatas. Later tonight I'm going by Barnes and Noble to pick up my Diabelli Variations. Exciting!

By the way, Fist, since you're checking this thread: what did you see think of my super-long, late 2005 poem? You can PM me your insights. I'm always starved for second opinions.

Now wait a second, are you talking about the cello suites or the cello (gamba, actually) sonatas?

once again I am in total agreement with MM. Glenn Gould's treatment of the G Variations is awe inapiring. It was one of those versions that after having hear the music played by others, once I heard it played by GG I got emotional. I hate that and love it at the same time -- ("I'm a grown man, dammit! Why is this thing affecting me?"...)

(the same thing happened after finally finding the 'perfect' recording of 'Four Seasons'...)

After that I started picking up a whole bunch of GG's recordings. wow. This man did not just FEEL the music he played, he WAS the music he played.
For anyone lucky enough to live in/around Toronto, the CBC building has some great Gould stuff...

Fist and Faith wrote:Now wait a second, are you talking about the cello suites or the cello (gamba, actually) sonatas?

Er--suites, sorry. I guess I called a rifle a gun, huh? Heh.

No, you called a rifle a pistol.

A suite is a dance suite. Its movements are dances. Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Gigue, etc, and could have several movements. Suites were secular music.

Sonatas generally contained four movements, in slow-fast-slow-fast arrangement. As they were not music that was likely to lead to sex, sonatas were church music.

Or course, this is all just the textbook definitions of music in Bach's time. But even then, things mixed all the time. Sonatas were certainly written to be played outside of the church, a movement might be a dance, or whatever. And scandalous dance music might be snuck into the church from time to time.

Another difference between Bach's cello suites and sonatas is that the suites are unaccompanied. Just the one instrument. As with his unaccompanied violin music, Bach shows the world the fullest possibilities of the instrument.

Fist and Faith wrote:No, you called a rifle a pistol.

A suite is a dance suite. Its movements are dances. Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Gigue, etc, and could have several movements. Suites were secular music.

That's interesting, because, to me, most people who play Bach's cello suites forget they're dance music at heart. Instead, they turn them into these cerebral, weighty pieces. I always thought they were lighter than the usual heaviness most players impart to them, but I could be wrong. I mean, all kinds of folks have turned Bach into so many things--Romantic, Baroque, etc.

By the way, Fist, since I know you're checking this thread: did you ever finish reading my super-long, late 2005 poem? I'd love some insights on it from someone else than the gnome in my skull! PM me!

Yessssssssss!!!

My Goldberg Variations as performed by Hantai came in! Sweet, sweet harpsichord love!