On a Mozart "kick" here as well... Playing Sonatas 1 - 5 from the first volume of the complete cycle by Glenn Gould. Columbia Masterworks LP / Recorded in 1967; LP released March 1968. I bought my copy in 1973. For some reason I bought Volume 3 in the cycle before this one and Volume 2, but it was a chaotic and wonderful time for LP buying with record stores everywhere and bursting with inventory. My wallet was always stretched, trying to keep up with so many new releases while also perusing mountains of back catalog. (sigh) But I digress... The jacket photo is nice, but just about everything is wrong. In the foreground is Mozart's own harpsichord, which is interesting to see, but Gould never touched it and plays these works on a Steinway piano. The prominent portrait on the wall was, for decades, identified as "Mozart at Age 10." However, scholars now agree it is actually a painting of Carl Graf Firmian at the keyboard. Ah, well. These early Sonatas, written by Mozart between the ages of 18 & 19, are too often (IMHO) performed as a sort of musical Dresden porcelain. In Gould's hands, however, it's Mozart on steroids. Music critic Harris Goldsmith praised Gould's fresh interpretation as "heady brilliance and ravishing detail." I think it is fascinating, and definitely enlightening, to look back at how critics received Gould's albums back in the day. One prime example is this review of the Mozart sonatas Vol. 1, published by Playboy magazine (for those who read the text ): [Bold highlighting added by me.] "Instead of following the well-bred, 18th Century drawing-room approach to these early sonatas, Gould presents them as the passionate statements of an impulsive and sometimes angry young man. The result is a revelation. Where the routine run of pianists find merely rococo elegance and charm, Gould detects a seething, sinewy current of storm and stress. Suddenly, these supposedly pallid pieces begin to sound like major Mozart. Undoubtedly, the pianist's rhythmic liberties, florid embellishments, jabbing accents and tumultuous tempos will send purists into a flap, but the rest of us can relax and marvel at a dazzling display of re-creative genius." Gould at Columbia's 30th Street studio, where this recording was made.
I watched this earlier today. I've actually had that Bernstein Sony box on my list for quite some time, and it's at budget price, so I placed the order.
By coincidence, I have been listening to Previn's Rachmaninov Symphony 3 from the Warner - EMI box. I listened several times to his interpretation and liked it. The sound was very good from the Warner Japan Remastering of 2017. I dislike the cover very much.
I enjoyed this disc for the sound and the music. For a 1977 recording, the organ was particularly well recorded. Poulenc Concerto for Organ, Strings & Timpani Concert champetre for harpsichord and orchestra Simon Preston, organ and harpsichord Andre Previn London Symphony Orchestra Warner 2021
Thanks for posting that. With the Lenny boxes, I agree with him except for the 7th. The DG 7th is my favorite on record.
I have the 1977 EMI (on Angel LP) which you've been playing (and I agree that the cover art is unfortunate); but also have the earlier Previn/LSO 1968 RCA recording (again on LP). My note inside the jacket of the former simply says, "Prefer the '68 version," but I can't recall why (though it's not because of the cover). Pic of the 1968 LP:
Another fine album and I'm glad to see that worthy recordings/performances such as this are still in circulation via remastered CDs. Angel (for US consumption) released this in two LP versions: The original (identical to your CD) followed by a 45-rpm version with supposedly better sonics. Due to the faster speed, they had to drop the Concert Champêtre For Harpsichord & Orchestra. Anyway, it does sound great. Have not played this in a while, so I'm putting it on the turntable now (after adjusting the Empire's belt for the speed change)...
More Mozart on the turntable... Continuing with Vol. 2 of the Glenn Gould recordings of the Sonatas. Columbia Masterworks LP / Recorded in the Columbia 30th Street Studio in 1968; LP released May 19, 1969. Review on jacket (slightly enlarged): That last sentence... "nostalgia..." Nostalgia? Gould?? The first and only time I've seen or heard that adjective applied to anything about Gould.
Continuing today with Vol. 3 of the Mozart Piano Sonatas performed by Glenn Gould. Columbia Masterworks LP / Released January 19, 1972. By the time this LP was released, I was buying Gould albums on the day they first arrived at my local record store -- the owner calling me when they came in. So a lot of mine are first pressings, with "1A" sides, but I wouldn't call any of them "mint." I played my records a lot--without benefit of a record cleaning machine or plastic sleeve protectors--and just took reasonable care and enjoyed them... and I enjoy them to this day. Igor Kipnis, a harpsichordist, pianist, and prolific recording artist, was given the task of reviewing this album for Stereo Review in Dec. 1972. He wrote: "Whether one rebels against Gould's individualistic manner here (as I do) or not, one cannot deny that he is always interesting in his ideas. The question remains, however, whether this is not more Gould than Mozart. Most of the fast movements are terribly fast--for example, the opening of the A Minor Sonata, or the Allegro moderato of the C Major, which becomes presto possibile in this version." "...Yet, in the slow movements, Gould reveals a great amount of intensity, and a concentration on emotion and details of phrasing and dynamics that I would like to hear other pianists emulate." "The sonic reproduction is lean and transparent, but I was appalled by Gould's vocal obbligatos, which are louder and more distracting here than in most of the pianist's discs."
This was Alexandre Kantorow's first disc, which is a recital of Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky and Balakirev. It is an impressive debut. Alexandre Kantorow a la russe Bis, 2017 CD/SACD
On the turntable: Vol. 4 of the Mozart Piano Sonatas performed by Glenn Gould. Columbia Masterworks LP / Released on September 28, 1973. This is the album that critic Harris Goldsmith declared, "...the most loathsome record ever made!" In particular, Gould's interpretation of the 1st movement of Sonata No. 11 (K. 331) stirred up the most controversy. Jonathan Cott interviewed Gould (Rolling Stone magazine, 1974) and specifically challenged him on the series of Mozart Sonatas albums: COTT: "...when I first heard them, I thought they were a put-on. In fact, they seem to have gotten progressively wilder as the series progresses-- Alberti bass lines smashing out, manic or depressive tempi. And then I began to think that perhaps you were taking a Brechtian approach to these works--distancing them in order to get away from the typical emotive type of performances we're used to hearing. But this is a pretty perverse way to deal with Mozart, isn't it?" GOULD: " ...I really think that the notion that one must start a Mozart sonata with a firm, upright kind of tempo and steady beat and then relax into something that is slurpy and Viennese, and then return to a hint of the original pulse just before the double bar and follow that with a bridge passage and so on, is pretty silly. It's simply not borne out by the music; it really isn't." "...Now, the horror and the outcry that resulted from my Mozart recordings--I think it was the critic Martin Mayer who said about Volume 2: 'Finally, this is madness!' or something to that effect-- is to me terribly funny, because all the critics are really responding to is a denial of a certain set of expectations that have been built into their hearing processes." This is a very brief excerpt from Gould's response. He actually got into a lengthy explanation (and sometimes eccentric rationalization ) for his Mozart, but these are the remarks that have stuck with me. And I'll leave it here.
Currently listening to... VIVALDI: The Four Seasons - Gil Shaham/Orpheus (US DG CD "MADE IN USA BY PMDC" "Mfd. For BMG Direct Marketing under license")
A lengthy explanation from Gould? You don't say! I had considered buying his set of the Mozart sonatas a few times over the years, but after sampling it online, I decided that while I found some of what he was doing to be interesting, I didn't think I would listen to it enough to warrant a purchase. Plus, space remains limited in my home, so I have to be very choosy. There will always be a permanent place for his Bach and his (solo) Brahms on my shelf, though.
Finishing the Mozart Piano Sonatas cycle with this 5th volume from Glenn Gould. Columbia Masterworks LP / Released August 1, 1975. The Fantasia in C minor was recorded in the Columbia 30th Street Studio, NYC, on 11/8/1966. The three Sonatas were recorded over five sessions in Eaton Auditorium, Toronto, in 1973-74. I've not been through this Gould/Mozart Sonatas cycle in a long time, so it has been refreshing to reconnect with them again--a fun romp--and I enjoyed it thoroughly. That said, my "standards" for these Sonatas are not Gould's and I would certainly not want his cycle to be my only set. Most often, I turn to cycles by the extraordinary Mitsuko Uchida (on Philips) and the truly excellent (and essential, IMHO) Lili Kraus -- the latter on Sony CD, I believe, but I have them on Odyssey LPs. Also notable are cycles by András Schiff--on London LP when I collected them, but likely released later on Decca CDs (?)-- and Christoph Eschenbach on DG. Since I have these on LP and I'm only guessing at the CD edition labels, it's likely that they may be available repackaged on "new" label designations. I can't keep up with all the changes! Anyway, I invite others to chime in with their favorite cycles.
I understand!! His Bach and Brahms are essential, IMO, and glad to hear you've made space for them. If you have any leanings toward 20th century music (and a little more shelf space), I'd also highly recommend Gould's recordings of Schoenberg, Hindemith, and Strauss.
Lili Kraus's mono set on Erato (the Music and Arts set has inferior sound) is my favorite, but I also enjoy Uchida's set a lot on Philips. Arrau and Gieseking's sets are unique in their own way, but neither is a wise first choice, IMO. Eschenbach is great but as I mentioned above, space is limited, otherwise I would have it.
