This is a wonderful interpretation of the work...Gould makes it his own...thoughtful, philosophically detached, he savors every succulent harmony; rythmically idiosyncratic, his interpretation is neither hindered by nor held captive of the printed page. Played on the forte piano of Beethoven/s time it would be a catastrophe, but with the sonorousness of the modern piano Gould imbues this particular movement with a tonal coloration of which, I believe, the composer would approve.
In addition, though I have never met Gould, I find him utterly arrogant and pompous! Take away his piano playing ability and what many people see as the madness of genius becomes simply madness. He should be assigned to an asylum!
@siralchemistuk lol, why so angry? You should know, Glenn Gould as the public knows him is simply a caricature of himself. At any rate, he was actually a very kind person, no matter his idiosyncrasy. Just watch the interview of his ex-gf's son and daughter. During the relatively short time they were with him, they remember him as funny, intellectual and benevolent. :P, Just sayin'
Interesting comments being made. I'm of the opinion that Gould is grossly disrespectful of Beethoven in playing this piece in a manner that so clearly departs from what's the accepted interpretation (held by many other "genii" of this piece and as such the recording should be used as a "how NOT to play" the Appassionata.
I agree with ipk4hk6y somewhat. I stopped listening to music for a number of reasons among which was that the musicians were not putting out and it can become a habit to the listener if he or she happens to play also. I prefer to try to make music at home now instead of listening. After listening to Glenn Goulds' 13th Beethoven sonata (2nd movement) my faith in some musicians is rekindled.
This wasn't Gould making fun of anything. Everyone is required to learn the Appassionata and choose perform at least one movement He not only had to learn it, but be browbeaten at the same time into "conventional and acceptable" ways of interpreting it (probably the crux of his dislikes). Here he has plainly laid it out: Here is what we have to work with--I heard all kinds of things in this version I never heard "up to speed." This was Glenn Gould, the media informer, showing us something.
I think it's incredibly beautiful. Many pieces I can only listen to the original recordings I got used to growing up, but Gould's alternate interpretations have so much character and solidity that I love listening, however unorthodox.
Glenn GOULD revisite l'oeuvre, j'ai commencé par Yves NAT, puis KEMPF, SCHNABEL, BRENDEL( 3 versions) et bien d'autres, cette vision ne me gêne pas, BEETHOVEN ne jouait jamais de la même manière c'était selon son humeur.
He just didn't care for what Beethoven wrote about how this piece should be played and he shurely plays the piece not how Beethoven wanted people to play it.
I love Gould, he is an authentic genial artist but I do not agree for so every music play of Beethoven he performs and less those ones of Mozart. That's Gould. He was a puritan who would impose his values to the music he played. Every time, he appropriates the music and the result is often amazingly beautiful (a revelation) and some other times it's doubtful to me but never all along the play uninteresting. There isn't any sacred Chapel for Gould, he plays his onw way. Thanks Mr. Gould.
He just wants do do it differently that all these clever pianists who play it "as fast as possible". Another midstyle Beethoven - a more reflective, philosophical approach. I think like Gould that Appassionata is overrated.
He tries to get out the musical structure in a more clear and interesting way than any other pianist.
Sometimes dislike evokes just as much emotion, if not more, than its counter. If Glenn didn't like this piece, it's okay with me because what he put into the music emotionally is brilliant just the same. :)
he is wonderfully precise....and its nice for me to "hear every note". But i wonder why he dislike it? Its weird to disllike that piece...but he WAS a weird character so maybe no wonder...but i sure laughed when he started that slowly. Im happy he dares to do it that way...or maybe he was just in a bad mood that way...and wanted to have some fun and get the reaction from people...He have a tendency to either play really fast or really slow. And i hate his humming.
pianist of this century come to such a knowledge that he is not a just a finger twaddler. No other pianist of this century, as Glenn Gould, puts so much thought into every work.
profound knowledge of music. I am sure that any musician as enlightened as Glenn Gould and Beethoven know how superfluous dynamic and tempo markings are; when a composer like Beethoven adds dynamics and tempo markings he is only writing out how he thinks at the moment. Please do not make claims that Beethoven would have hated this performance; it is irrelevant, and who would ever know anyways? I would not be surprised if Beethoven called this the Definitive Performance; never before has a
One should try listening to this recording as if one had never seen the music heard a performance of this work. Then go and listen to another recording on youtube, and naturally discover that all other renditions of this piece hardly equal this one. What constitutes a good performance? As you would have it every single performance of a work should sound exactly the same. You are contradicting your natural reaction by not liking this performance; you are acting in defense of what you think is a
sorry, but I wouldn't classify this even as "bad" - this is below "bad".. I do like gould and the way he plays, but this is an abomination.. :((
you don't like it, you don't play it! there are certain demands that proffessionalism puts on artists and not having the liberty to butcher a piece of art is one of them.
@meggie1974 Non è affatto arrogante. E' un genio dell'interpretazione! Ti mostra che un capolavoro può essere letto in infiniti modi. La sua analiticità è devastante per noi, è provocatorio senza dubbio, ma apre nuove prospettive interpretative. Anche in questi esempi-limite come l'op. 57 o come l'op. 15 di Brahms fatta con Bernstein. Ascoltala, ti sconvolgerà....Per quanto riguarda la tecnica...è unico. Prova a sentire il miracoloso equilibrio tra mano destra e sinistra.
@renato45222 Non lo metto in dubio che lui sia stato un genio dell'interpretazione, ma come ogni genio, o quasi, lo trovo arrogante. Se lui aveva questa ossessione per trovare il suono perfetto della musica di Bach, questo desiderio maniacale di interpretare come Bach aveva voluto, allora poteva fare la stessa cosa anche con la musica di Beethoven. Cio' non toglie che mi piace ascoltarlo. In fin dei conti, è un'arroganza che se la poteva permettere. Questa è la mia opinione personalissima :)
Finally Beethoven in the correct tempo, Gould wasn't aware probably but this is the tempo Czerny gives for this piece... And what happens is that it suddenly sounds so "modern" as if you already here fragments of Chopin... but it is of course the other way around: this is what Chopin heard and set to his compositions!
Just try to forget 150 years of technical performances...
All the respect and love for G.G. crushes with a monstrous thing like that.-Mr. Gould,as a composer,you do not even see the shoes of Mr. Beethoven.-You are just a cockroach looking up..If you wish to make fun of someone,choose Mickey Mouse or Satie,O.K. ? You once did the same thing to the Chromatic Fantasia by Bach.-Maybe your romance with a married woman,Cornelia Foss,was too much for your brain.-If,by command of your ignorant worshippers,you actually are in heaven...please go to HELL !
@brianbela what a rude cretin you are. It so happens I don't care for Glenn's version of THIS piece. But have you heard his Tempest? If possible, probably too fast.
The only thing unusual here is the speed. Big deal, I also prefer Richter or some of the other Gods. But your self-professed musical expertise is not credible because in most things Glenn did he was brilliant. Example: Goldberg variation. Ah, forget it...
Well, you could say that Beethoven didn't intend this piece to be played this way, but then again Glen Gould was a genius too, so he had his way of seeing things and sometimes he wanted to prove a point by playing a piece differently. He was an eccentric and an intellectual and he had lots of things to say about music, art and life itself. One should read things that he was saying to understand what he was all about. If you want to hear this piece being played traditionally listen to Horowitz...
@theUroshman I never had such an appreciation for a piece as when I heard it played so drastically different in two styles. Although I admit not liking this on first listen, I have grown to appreciate how Gould breaks it all down. Dissection. mmmm exquisite
Excuse me, I hear only Gould. Where is Beethoven? He did not like Beethoven? Have the guts not to play his music. A key? Gould wanted people to talk about him, and forget Beethoven. He is a great pianist, but he should have played his own music only, too big ego to play music from other composers.
Thank God for Gould and whatever way he chooses to play any piece of music. He always opens up some new vista into a piece so that you hear connections you hadn't heard before, or even notes that others might slur. I'm so grateful for what he does - and this Appassionata is a wonderful one of a kind.
Too bad haters think there's only ONE way something ought to be played. If you think Beethoven played the same piece only one way, no matter his final score, you DON'T know creative art or artists
You have to understand Gould's philosophy of musicianship. In one of the documentary films on Gould (a clip of it is on Youtube) he says, that in his time (and ours) the only justification for being a professional musician was that something new and fresh is brought by that musician to the old repertoire, otherwise, what is the point?
I like his quirky interpretations (I might not play it that way, but so what?). On the matter of technique—the man had a BLISTERING technique! Just watch or listen to other recordings. As for the trills, who knows—although later in this clip his trills take on quite a bit of snap. I feel the piece can be played at a lot of tempos—the slower ones, however, are more difficult to hold together. (Interesting note: the hypercritical Russians audiences loved him back in the ’50s when he toured there.)
@Fontainebleau7 Blistering technique indeed. I recently decided to slow down a few of his recordings which were played so fast it is almost impossible to distinguish individual notes (Moonlight sonata movement 3 for example). The result was complete awe. The precision of dynamics, voicing, and articulation of each not is phenomenal regardless of tempo. Not to mention the awe inspiring evenness of the most difficult passages. Seriously try it
well it is not played as the genius beethoven wrote it and played it but it is very helpful for those pianists who are learning this masterpiece at the moment who haven't reached the level of lisitsa schiff barembiom and so on so thank you gould because one day i will turn on this.
@MEpianist Your comment is worthless-you obviously are a disturbed racist individual .However you do have a right to express your ignorant opinion.Eric
I disagree with people saying he was pressured into recording this; He refused to record several composers, so I highly doubt anyone could pressure him into recording anything, My view on this is that he liked to stir the pot, and shake things up at the same time. If you don't believe me read about the radio show he did about Mozart being a terrible composer, if that's not an example of stirring the pot then I don't know what is. He also gave himself bad reviews using alter egos.
Gould hates this. He said that its one of the worst pieces Beethoven ever wrote. So he is obviously making fun of it, playing it at half speed and joking with the trills.
@qujingyuan You are a professional pianist or you are not! Beethoven wrote on the score exactly how this piece wanted to be played!! Have you ever thought why Gould is always doing what he wants? That's not serious!
I agree that everyone gives their own style while playing music,but THAT HAS A LIMIT!
YOU PUT A "LIKE" NOW,CAUSE IT'S GOULD PLAYING...BUT,WHAT ABOUT IF THIS WAS PLAYED BY ANOTHER UNKNOWN PIANIST??? I'M SURE YOU'D SAY IT'S DISGUSTING!
@qujingyuan Oh.. no!! It has nothing to do with you!!! :-)) But you just gave me the opportunity to answer to all of them who insist that this interpretation of Gould is something...Exciting!
@ipk4hk6y Is there not value in saying something that has not been said before? There is immaculate attention to detail in this performance, and while I prefer a more conventional tempo, there is at the very least philosophical value to this interpretation. Are you familiar with Glen's unconventional tempos for the WTC? Some are taken much faster than conventional wisdom would dictate, and some much slower... Is there not value in eschewing C.W.?
@Tomokatocat Man of my heart! What is the point of playing a song like any other? Why content ourselves to being restricted to a museum of taxidermied music, which we grew tedious long ago?
@ipk4hk6y I think the shitty nigga will say" Oh my fucking god it's disastrous" even the player is Martha Argerich... Hey@qujingyuan, get your pussy stuff up and fucking back to China.....
@ipk4hk6y I think the attitude that one must interpret music as the original composer intended is widespread, but it is thoughtless and ridiculous. Why does someone not have the right to interpret music any way he likes? In effect, the 'interpretation' creates a new composition. And the listener also has the right to like it, dislike it, or disregard it. We all have our rights you know, and suppressing those rights just for the sake of it will also suppress brilliant innovation.
Gould is a great pianist - no question there. This, however, is the worst possible interpretation of Apassionata. I don't know whether he's making fun of the piece or actually thinks this is the way to play it - anyway, this is really really horrible playing of Apassionata.
@LordN3mrod I 100% agree.If he didnt like this piece,he should'nt have played it!The fact that he played it poorly in order to "Prove a point" doesnt make Beethoven look bad---it makes him look like a nut.
its a scandal because gould disliked appasionata and the tempest sonatas. he was pressuerd into recording them by the recording corporation or whatnot. Gould is still my favorite pianist, i dislike appasionata as well and oonly like the 3rd mvt of tepest
@brianbela i don't even know what to say to you. you obviously suffer from your own musical ignorance and have trouble understanding the phenomenon of glenn gould. have you heard a gould recording? did you see what he did with brahms and bernstein in new york? fact is gould despised this piece and even his "poor" interpretation is a whole helluvalot better than whatever you could ever muster. when you sit down at the piano and do better than him come back and let us know(maybe then we'll care).
@MALBGM Fuck off you pompous ass.you dont know shit about me and what I can or cant play,and I can tell you right now that i know 1000's of pianists myself included who could've played this sonata better then Gould did here.If he hated it so much,he shouldnt have played it,and if his record co.forced him to record it,he should've at least made the attempt to do the musc some justice.As it stands,his performance is dreadful.Period. And BTW tard brain,i'm not saying the guy couldnt play.So STFU!!
@brianbela do you always start your comments with insulting the persons intelligence? i've been looking at your comments just laughing everytime someone disagrees with you, maaan you gotta stop watching glenn beck hes poisoning your mind
@MALBGM Are you on drugs?Or are you just retarded? We're not talking about what he did with other pieces you fucking tard.We're talking about his interpretation of THIS PIECE? And BTW ass,I know more about music than you could ever learn in 10 lifetimes---but one doesnt have to be a great performer to not like a performance---got it douche?? You Gould worshippers are just total idiots!!You sound like a religious fanatic talking about this guy. LOL NEWSFLASH: He wasnt that big a deal.
If one of the people which write negative comments play better than GG, I accept them and please by your self create a video response, is not, their are kidding me.
I am not competent, but my feeling is that Glenn Gould disagrees with the text of Beethoven, and this is why his interpretation is somehow 'non-standard'. In any case, there is no real 'scandal', strange does not mean wrong.
Agreed with fbager , why play a piece if all you're doing is following the crowd.
Take for example, the difference between Toscanini and Bernstein with the 9th Symphony. Night and day. And who is to say who is correct? A Beethoven expert? Please, no. I prefer Bernstein's but I listen to the Toscanini, too. I suspect that when Gould said he hated a Beethoven work, it's more love hate.
And, I take issue with people who read books and then decide if they like a piece of music.
To me there is not much point saying you don't like an interpretation simply because it doesn't follow the same parameters as other ones. I believe we are far better off listening to different recordings as entirely separate works of art.
Haha this is actually more of a commentary on the piece than a performance of it. Glenn Gould is one of my favorites but man he really socked it to a piece if he didn't like it.
@orqsilva XD Its a blessing that he plays it slow, you will get what I mean when you hear the majority of all his other inteperations such as his moonlight sonata 3rd movement, super fast!
@Tsotne16 The scandal is that he played it so poorly.And if he didnt like the piece,He shouldnt have played it.He did the same scandalous treatment to Mozart.He didnt like Mozart,yet he recorded his pieces in a mechanically insultng manner.Glen Gould is over rated in my opinion.The only reason any one remembers him is because of his "Eccentricities",his humming,the way he sat at the piano.And if he thought he was putting down Beethoven here he was wrong---The only one he put down was himself.
@Tsotne16 I read so much of the fighting about this pianist was good this one was bad. Gould was a great pianist just like Rubinstein, Horowitz, Cziffra, Hofmann etc... It's all about what is pleasing to ones ears.
@ClassicalMusicPL I know this piece well, and this is a terrible interpretation. I think actually he didn't have the technical skill to do it justice and so he butchered it to fit his limitations.
That makes absolutely zero sense. Have you seen his transcription of La Valse? Gould had the technical skill to do anything he wanted. You're just a hater. This is obviously not my favourite interpretation of this piece. But I actually kinda like it.
Or hey, maybe I could look up Yundi Li's interpretation and know exactly what I'm going hear before he plays the first note.
@ProkofievRules I don't know what I said to provoke this--maybe that Gould's rendition of the Appasionata Sonata is worse than bad; its horrific. But let me make myself perfectly clear, Glenn Gould is one of my favorite pianists and far more frequently than not his innovative "interpretations" are highly successful. I don't hate him at all, much the contrary.
@mc0558 he has one of the best techniques in the world. I love Gould because he has his own style and he can use it in a lot of piano pieces, it's amazing.
@mc0558 Are you kidding me? Even famous virtuoso pianists like Rubinstein admire his technique. You have no idea what you are talking about. What makes Glenn Gould astonishing is that he produces abnormal interpretations while having the technique to back it up.
I recommend Valentina Lisitsa's interpretation of this piece. I think it's better than Glenn Gould's and Horowitz's. Actually, I think it's better than any other I've heard :)
I also think every genius has moments of banality, clumsiness or even ridicule.
.... allegro assai my butt... Gould generally goes at the speed of light, and I love it when he does that... I hate that he slows this one down though...
I think he hated the performing tradition of the piece, fragmented with sudden extreme tempo changes. He hated showiness. You could practically set a metronome to Gould's performance and the tempo would hardly vary. He brings out the grand architecture of the piece, building it to a magnificent and glorious apex, far beyond any other pianist's conception.
This is not the correct tempo. But perhaps it is Glenn saying to Ludwig, "perhaps sir, it would have been better to notate your composition in this fashion, with all due respect"
@gigie555 OMG, every time, every time Gould changes the tempo people comment over and over. He is an interpreter, he didn't sign any contract with any God saying that he will just read the score like a robot.
@gigie555 Do you know his performance of the 3rd movement of Mozart's 24th? There he Bach-ifies Mozart, turning the movement into a fugue and it works beautifully.
1. following notatiions and expressing oneself through music are not mutually exclusive. the notations beethoven had put down gives a player some general directions to follow, but there are certainly many areas that are still "open to interpretation" (like how you strike a key, how loud/soft a note should sound, voicing etc.)
2. if gould insists on playing the movement in a painfully slow tempo, it becomes gould's own composition cos this is clearly against what beethoven had intended
i think this recording is good for people wanting to learn this piece because he plays it so slow can we can hear al fast parts easier, its almost as if he purposely played it at this tempo to help people learn.
Playing it like this increases the tension, its held longer, and dare I say, at times tortuous as you wait for the resolution. I think it fits the darker nature of the piece as a whole.
Whereas many play this in a fiery whirlwind of passion, Gould plays it darker, more ominous, but undercut with a deep passion. Like a magma chamber waiting to erupt.
It is very strange. Even if everything is so unconventional in this rendition I don't want to stop listening to it. I like Gould very much but I have the feeling that Beethoven wouldn't agree with me. On the other hand we will never know what is "right" or "wrong". So I will just enjoy this interpretation one more time!!!
@TheMusician1992 He sure would, if he heard what you just said. Sense of musicality is just what common sense considers to be good, and that is pathetic. He's a genius becouse he doesn't care about that. Beethoven reached that point too,just look at his last piece. He understood that,and so does mr. genius Gould
Well I have to take back what I just wrote... re-reading the comments I see most know we aren't dealing with dross here. But it's true people who don't get Gould just don't get him. I submit if you do you know immediately he's a rare, idiosyncratic genius.
Many of the comments below prove Swift's observation that "When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him". Naturally, few understand what is so elevated above the ordinary.
Well, it's not any more original or imaginative than someone painting a mustache on the Mona Lisa, but there is something that interests me: analytical as he was, I'm wondering how he justified playing the trills slowly at the opening, and then at normal speed when they recur at 1:34. That REALLY makes no sense. I mean the whole thing sounds like a "fu*k you" to the piece which he must have disliked or not understood. Maybe he thought he was having one at the expense of the record company.
Inner voice and counterpoint being brought out in a piece like this LOL Gould can make everything sound Bachian... and I found it interesting enough to listen through to the end of course... a very creative interpretation as always... as someone used to say "this nut's a g
This is a wonderful interpretation of the work...Gould makes it his own...thoughtful, philosophically detached, he savors every succulent harmony; rythmically idiosyncratic, his interpretation is neither hindered by nor held captive of the printed page. Played on the forte piano of Beethoven/s time it would be a catastrophe, but with the sonorousness of the modern piano Gould imbues this particular movement with a tonal coloration of which, I believe, the composer would approve.
wbrown94704 3 days ago
yeah he disliked the chromatic fantasia too. Can't say I hated his performance of the piece.
FliegendeHollaender 6 days ago
too slow for me:/
clubersmj 1 week ago
I'd rather give this a listen, a real genius give it his stamp then the cookie cutter work of those too timid to give it theirs.
JazzyJunior 1 month ago
In addition, though I have never met Gould, I find him utterly arrogant and pompous! Take away his piano playing ability and what many people see as the madness of genius becomes simply madness. He should be assigned to an asylum!
siralchemistuk 1 month ago
@siralchemistuk lol, why so angry? You should know, Glenn Gould as the public knows him is simply a caricature of himself. At any rate, he was actually a very kind person, no matter his idiosyncrasy. Just watch the interview of his ex-gf's son and daughter. During the relatively short time they were with him, they remember him as funny, intellectual and benevolent. :P, Just sayin'
QueerOldDean 1 month ago in playlist BO
@siralchemistuk OMG: listen to the Goldberg Variations and tell me he wasn't a genius! I dare you!!!
robbielem99 1 month ago
Interesting comments being made. I'm of the opinion that Gould is grossly disrespectful of Beethoven in playing this piece in a manner that so clearly departs from what's the accepted interpretation (held by many other "genii" of this piece and as such the recording should be used as a "how NOT to play" the Appassionata.
siralchemistuk 1 month ago
I agree with ipk4hk6y somewhat. I stopped listening to music for a number of reasons among which was that the musicians were not putting out and it can become a habit to the listener if he or she happens to play also. I prefer to try to make music at home now instead of listening. After listening to Glenn Goulds' 13th Beethoven sonata (2nd movement) my faith in some musicians is rekindled.
muken48 1 month ago
This wasn't Gould making fun of anything. Everyone is required to learn the Appassionata and choose perform at least one movement He not only had to learn it, but be browbeaten at the same time into "conventional and acceptable" ways of interpreting it (probably the crux of his dislikes). Here he has plainly laid it out: Here is what we have to work with--I heard all kinds of things in this version I never heard "up to speed." This was Glenn Gould, the media informer, showing us something.
technicalentity 1 month ago
cool picture
UnrecycleRubdish 1 month ago
I think it's incredibly beautiful. Many pieces I can only listen to the original recordings I got used to growing up, but Gould's alternate interpretations have so much character and solidity that I love listening, however unorthodox.
thordeer 1 month ago 2
If Beethoven was alive, at 1:00 he'd be yelling, "get on with it man"
fapestar 2 months ago
Interpretazione personalissima che dimostra il 'genio' Gould.
MARIAHELENA606 2 months ago
@MARIAHELENA606 si ma sopratutto che chiarezza nel suono ti fa' sentire ogni nota
71lupenzo710 1 month ago
@MARIAHELENA606 ah beh
newFranzFerencLiszt 1 month ago
I cannot find on youtube Gould's recording of the third movement of the Appasionata, has he ever recorded it?
Alisdair17 2 months ago
I like Gould's creative, interesting interpretations. Diversity of opinions is good.
3001st 2 months ago
Glenn GOULD revisite l'oeuvre, j'ai commencé par Yves NAT, puis KEMPF, SCHNABEL, BRENDEL( 3 versions) et bien d'autres, cette vision ne me gêne pas, BEETHOVEN ne jouait jamais de la même manière c'était selon son humeur.
MrTIRILLY 2 months ago
He just didn't care for what Beethoven wrote about how this piece should be played and he shurely plays the piece not how Beethoven wanted people to play it.
BUT: In my opinion it isn't even that bad.
ApfelKUCHENGESCHMACK 2 months ago
I love Gould, he is an authentic genial artist but I do not agree for so every music play of Beethoven he performs and less those ones of Mozart. That's Gould. He was a puritan who would impose his values to the music he played. Every time, he appropriates the music and the result is often amazingly beautiful (a revelation) and some other times it's doubtful to me but never all along the play uninteresting. There isn't any sacred Chapel for Gould, he plays his onw way. Thanks Mr. Gould.
Enad700 2 months ago
So many haters that aren't even able to be as good as Gould...
MantisKiller 2 months ago
This is pure evil. Shame on him. Down with Mr. Glenn Gould.
organboi 2 months ago
He just wants do do it differently that all these clever pianists who play it "as fast as possible". Another midstyle Beethoven - a more reflective, philosophical approach. I think like Gould that Appassionata is overrated.
He tries to get out the musical structure in a more clear and interesting way than any other pianist.
robert49able 3 months ago
genius you are not Mr. Qujingyuan.
BurnabyER 3 months ago
Sometimes dislike evokes just as much emotion, if not more, than its counter. If Glenn didn't like this piece, it's okay with me because what he put into the music emotionally is brilliant just the same. :)
hope4sumthinghappy 3 months ago in playlist Glenn Gould
he is wonderfully precise....and its nice for me to "hear every note". But i wonder why he dislike it? Its weird to disllike that piece...but he WAS a weird character so maybe no wonder...but i sure laughed when he started that slowly. Im happy he dares to do it that way...or maybe he was just in a bad mood that way...and wanted to have some fun and get the reaction from people...He have a tendency to either play really fast or really slow. And i hate his humming.
sorenm2 3 months ago
pianist of this century come to such a knowledge that he is not a just a finger twaddler. No other pianist of this century, as Glenn Gould, puts so much thought into every work.
NoahSV 3 months ago
profound knowledge of music. I am sure that any musician as enlightened as Glenn Gould and Beethoven know how superfluous dynamic and tempo markings are; when a composer like Beethoven adds dynamics and tempo markings he is only writing out how he thinks at the moment. Please do not make claims that Beethoven would have hated this performance; it is irrelevant, and who would ever know anyways? I would not be surprised if Beethoven called this the Definitive Performance; never before has a
NoahSV 3 months ago
One should try listening to this recording as if one had never seen the music heard a performance of this work. Then go and listen to another recording on youtube, and naturally discover that all other renditions of this piece hardly equal this one. What constitutes a good performance? As you would have it every single performance of a work should sound exactly the same. You are contradicting your natural reaction by not liking this performance; you are acting in defense of what you think is a
NoahSV 3 months ago
@brianbela: I hear you. Definitely
LordN3mrod 3 months ago
There is no limit to art, ask Beethoven!
quinto34 3 months ago
sorry, but I wouldn't classify this even as "bad" - this is below "bad".. I do like gould and the way he plays, but this is an abomination.. :((
you don't like it, you don't play it! there are certain demands that proffessionalism puts on artists and not having the liberty to butcher a piece of art is one of them.
mkayi 3 months ago
Però lo trovo arrogante in questa interpretazione.
meggie1974 4 months ago
@meggie1974 Non è affatto arrogante. E' un genio dell'interpretazione! Ti mostra che un capolavoro può essere letto in infiniti modi. La sua analiticità è devastante per noi, è provocatorio senza dubbio, ma apre nuove prospettive interpretative. Anche in questi esempi-limite come l'op. 57 o come l'op. 15 di Brahms fatta con Bernstein. Ascoltala, ti sconvolgerà....Per quanto riguarda la tecnica...è unico. Prova a sentire il miracoloso equilibrio tra mano destra e sinistra.
renato45222 3 months ago
@renato45222 Non lo metto in dubio che lui sia stato un genio dell'interpretazione, ma come ogni genio, o quasi, lo trovo arrogante. Se lui aveva questa ossessione per trovare il suono perfetto della musica di Bach, questo desiderio maniacale di interpretare come Bach aveva voluto, allora poteva fare la stessa cosa anche con la musica di Beethoven. Cio' non toglie che mi piace ascoltarlo. In fin dei conti, è un'arroganza che se la poteva permettere. Questa è la mia opinione personalissima :)
meggie1974 3 months ago
Lui e la sua sedia inseparabile :)
meggie1974 4 months ago
@ipk4hk6y: Oh glenn gould Don't touch my holy song! I'm going slightly mad!
crispijnvansas 4 months ago
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crispijnvansas 4 months ago
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crispijnvansas 4 months ago
Idiocy on display.
marcxopoco 4 months ago
e perchè no? intensa, tragica....
markinski 4 months ago
Finally Beethoven in the correct tempo, Gould wasn't aware probably but this is the tempo Czerny gives for this piece... And what happens is that it suddenly sounds so "modern" as if you already here fragments of Chopin... but it is of course the other way around: this is what Chopin heard and set to his compositions!
Just try to forget 150 years of technical performances...
WimWintersMusician 4 months ago
what the fuck is this shit? its the second worst appasionata i've ever heard.
LeakyWicks 4 months ago
@LeakyWicks and the first one would be?
ilsontfouscesromains 4 months ago
@ilsontfouscesromains watch?v=-Dgnbbu-mQA
try not to spray milk out of your nose
LeakyWicks 4 months ago
tempo is slowed hmm could be easy to learn from this version
blazerrips91 4 months ago
Pienso que es muy pedagògico escucharlo, ya que toca muy parejo y perfecto. Solo es el "tempo" lo que no està acorde al espiritu de la obra.
jjbbtobe 4 months ago
LMAO! Such sarcastic playing! hahahhahahahha
StrivetobeDust 4 months ago 2
All the respect and love for G.G. crushes with a monstrous thing like that.-Mr. Gould,as a composer,you do not even see the shoes of Mr. Beethoven.-You are just a cockroach looking up..If you wish to make fun of someone,choose Mickey Mouse or Satie,O.K. ? You once did the same thing to the Chromatic Fantasia by Bach.-Maybe your romance with a married woman,Cornelia Foss,was too much for your brain.-If,by command of your ignorant worshippers,you actually are in heaven...please go to HELL !
prinzparsiphal 5 months ago
Merde !
Je l'aime ce salaud !
Elze77 5 months ago
Allegro assai, allegro shmasai, I say, thumbing my nose at Beethoven as GG did.
Beethoven was going deaf, so what did he know?
Anyway dude, after getting high on some fine kush, I play 1st mov. of Op. 57 even slower than this.
borispoo 5 months ago 2
@borispoo In the words of Maebe Funke "Marry Me" lol. sounds lovely.
anitkithra 5 months ago in playlist anitkithra's Favorited Videos
This is way too fast for my taste.
borispoo 5 months ago
@borispoo you´re right... it´s not like the score says "Allegro Assai" or something like that...
alexisgud2 5 months ago
Gould tryied to play in a different way, very personal, I like it but the Appassionata is not played this way, no way!
enaralva 5 months ago
well besides the tempo there seems to be a certain speciality in regard of the use of the pedals, am i right?
saemundar 5 months ago
グレン・グールドはベートーヴェンに関しても時として、素晴らしい表現力と霊感を示すけど、”熱情ソナタ”は関心しない。悲愴などは素晴らしい未曾有の表現をしているのに。
emblem333 5 months ago
@brianbela what a rude cretin you are. It so happens I don't care for Glenn's version of THIS piece. But have you heard his Tempest? If possible, probably too fast.
The only thing unusual here is the speed. Big deal, I also prefer Richter or some of the other Gods. But your self-professed musical expertise is not credible because in most things Glenn did he was brilliant. Example: Goldberg variation. Ah, forget it...
bassofan2 5 months ago
Glenn Golud felt the right to do what he pleased with the work of other composers and to reinterpret their desire and redo their work at will.
This is one of the reasons I do not like his interpretations, especially the big romantic German composers, as in this case, Beethoven.
Ray0X0 5 months ago
ベートーベンはもしかしたら怒るかもしれない。だけどいつか怒るのにも飽きて微笑むかもしれない。
yoyo3824 5 months ago
Ancora scandalizza questo? E allora J. Cage è passato invano!
mirrors1 6 months ago
Su digitación es perfecta, aunque el tiempo resulte extraño, por no estar acostumbrado a esta versión.
GabrielPadecopeo 6 months ago 2
Well, you could say that Beethoven didn't intend this piece to be played this way, but then again Glen Gould was a genius too, so he had his way of seeing things and sometimes he wanted to prove a point by playing a piece differently. He was an eccentric and an intellectual and he had lots of things to say about music, art and life itself. One should read things that he was saying to understand what he was all about. If you want to hear this piece being played traditionally listen to Horowitz...
theUroshman 6 months ago 8
@theUroshman I never had such an appreciation for a piece as when I heard it played so drastically different in two styles. Although I admit not liking this on first listen, I have grown to appreciate how Gould breaks it all down. Dissection. mmmm exquisite
anitkithra 5 months ago 2
Excuse me, I hear only Gould. Where is Beethoven? He did not like Beethoven? Have the guts not to play his music. A key? Gould wanted people to talk about him, and forget Beethoven. He is a great pianist, but he should have played his own music only, too big ego to play music from other composers.
FarineVal 6 months ago
Thank God for Gould and whatever way he chooses to play any piece of music. He always opens up some new vista into a piece so that you hear connections you hadn't heard before, or even notes that others might slur. I'm so grateful for what he does - and this Appassionata is a wonderful one of a kind.
Too bad haters think there's only ONE way something ought to be played. If you think Beethoven played the same piece only one way, no matter his final score, you DON'T know creative art or artists
citzie 6 months ago
too fast...
carinaelle1 6 months ago 12
You have to understand Gould's philosophy of musicianship. In one of the documentary films on Gould (a clip of it is on Youtube) he says, that in his time (and ours) the only justification for being a professional musician was that something new and fresh is brought by that musician to the old repertoire, otherwise, what is the point?
mmcrosbie 6 months ago
scandal? so what if its slightly slower than usual?
chrish12345 6 months ago
What I really enjoy is the variety of comments made here.
MrAndieMusik 6 months ago
I like his quirky interpretations (I might not play it that way, but so what?). On the matter of technique—the man had a BLISTERING technique! Just watch or listen to other recordings. As for the trills, who knows—although later in this clip his trills take on quite a bit of snap. I feel the piece can be played at a lot of tempos—the slower ones, however, are more difficult to hold together. (Interesting note: the hypercritical Russians audiences loved him back in the ’50s when he toured there.)
Fontainebleau7 7 months ago
@Fontainebleau7 Blistering technique indeed. I recently decided to slow down a few of his recordings which were played so fast it is almost impossible to distinguish individual notes (Moonlight sonata movement 3 for example). The result was complete awe. The precision of dynamics, voicing, and articulation of each not is phenomenal regardless of tempo. Not to mention the awe inspiring evenness of the most difficult passages. Seriously try it
yumpin 6 months ago
well it is not played as the genius beethoven wrote it and played it but it is very helpful for those pianists who are learning this masterpiece at the moment who haven't reached the level of lisitsa schiff barembiom and so on so thank you gould because one day i will turn on this.
chrisgilson0904194 7 months ago
@chrisgilson0904194 By the way, Gould was a genius.
mmcrosbie 6 months ago
@mmcrosbie
never questioned that
chrisgilson0904194 6 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@chrisgilson0904194 Just wanted to say it.
mmcrosbie 5 months ago
I enjoyed it, Beethoven is a German fucking blowhard who sucked.
MEpianist 7 months ago
@MEpianist Your comment is worthless-you obviously are a disturbed racist individual .However you do have a right to express your ignorant opinion.Eric
ProLifeMontanaLass 7 months ago
@MEpianist Wow, either you're trying to be funny, or you share a common ansestor with a piece of fruit.
KlavierPlaya 7 months ago
I disagree with people saying he was pressured into recording this; He refused to record several composers, so I highly doubt anyone could pressure him into recording anything, My view on this is that he liked to stir the pot, and shake things up at the same time. If you don't believe me read about the radio show he did about Mozart being a terrible composer, if that's not an example of stirring the pot then I don't know what is. He also gave himself bad reviews using alter egos.
yumpin 7 months ago
Gould hates this. He said that its one of the worst pieces Beethoven ever wrote. So he is obviously making fun of it, playing it at half speed and joking with the trills.
qujingyuan 7 months ago
@qujingyuan You are a professional pianist or you are not! Beethoven wrote on the score exactly how this piece wanted to be played!! Have you ever thought why Gould is always doing what he wants? That's not serious!
I agree that everyone gives their own style while playing music,but THAT HAS A LIMIT!
YOU PUT A "LIKE" NOW,CAUSE IT'S GOULD PLAYING...BUT,WHAT ABOUT IF THIS WAS PLAYED BY ANOTHER UNKNOWN PIANIST??? I'M SURE YOU'D SAY IT'S DISGUSTING!
ipk4hk6y 6 months ago 11
@ipk4hk6y In which way is your comment a reply to mine?? Did I say anything about the quality of this recording?
qujingyuan 6 months ago
@qujingyuan Oh.. no!! It has nothing to do with you!!! :-)) But you just gave me the opportunity to answer to all of them who insist that this interpretation of Gould is something...Exciting!
ipk4hk6y 6 months ago
@ipk4hk6y Yeah I agree with you :)
qujingyuan 6 months ago
@ipk4hk6y maybe this is why it's called "scandal", he deliberately sabotaged the piece
ilsontfouscesromains 4 months ago
@ipk4hk6y Is there not value in saying something that has not been said before? There is immaculate attention to detail in this performance, and while I prefer a more conventional tempo, there is at the very least philosophical value to this interpretation. Are you familiar with Glen's unconventional tempos for the WTC? Some are taken much faster than conventional wisdom would dictate, and some much slower... Is there not value in eschewing C.W.?
Tomokatocat 3 months ago 5
@Tomokatocat Man of my heart! What is the point of playing a song like any other? Why content ourselves to being restricted to a museum of taxidermied music, which we grew tedious long ago?
QueerOldDean 2 months ago
@ipk4hk6y I think the shitty nigga will say" Oh my fucking god it's disastrous" even the player is Martha Argerich... Hey@qujingyuan, get your pussy stuff up and fucking back to China.....
crushonJune 3 months ago
@ipk4hk6y I think the attitude that one must interpret music as the original composer intended is widespread, but it is thoughtless and ridiculous. Why does someone not have the right to interpret music any way he likes? In effect, the 'interpretation' creates a new composition. And the listener also has the right to like it, dislike it, or disregard it. We all have our rights you know, and suppressing those rights just for the sake of it will also suppress brilliant innovation.
rule914 2 months ago
@qujingyuan - You have the option of not listening to this recording if it bothers you this much.
Frozentoes1 2 months ago
Gould is a great pianist - no question there. This, however, is the worst possible interpretation of Apassionata. I don't know whether he's making fun of the piece or actually thinks this is the way to play it - anyway, this is really really horrible playing of Apassionata.
LordN3mrod 8 months ago
@LordN3mrod I 100% agree.If he didnt like this piece,he should'nt have played it!The fact that he played it poorly in order to "Prove a point" doesnt make Beethoven look bad---it makes him look like a nut.
brianbela 7 months ago
its a scandal because gould disliked appasionata and the tempest sonatas. he was pressuerd into recording them by the recording corporation or whatnot. Gould is still my favorite pianist, i dislike appasionata as well and oonly like the 3rd mvt of tepest
ModellMeister 8 months ago
@brianbela i don't even know what to say to you. you obviously suffer from your own musical ignorance and have trouble understanding the phenomenon of glenn gould. have you heard a gould recording? did you see what he did with brahms and bernstein in new york? fact is gould despised this piece and even his "poor" interpretation is a whole helluvalot better than whatever you could ever muster. when you sit down at the piano and do better than him come back and let us know(maybe then we'll care).
MALBGM 8 months ago
@MALBGM Fuck off you pompous ass.you dont know shit about me and what I can or cant play,and I can tell you right now that i know 1000's of pianists myself included who could've played this sonata better then Gould did here.If he hated it so much,he shouldnt have played it,and if his record co.forced him to record it,he should've at least made the attempt to do the musc some justice.As it stands,his performance is dreadful.Period. And BTW tard brain,i'm not saying the guy couldnt play.So STFU!!
brianbela 7 months ago
@brianbela whoa dude sounds like you straight up mad brah
MALBGM 7 months ago
@MALBGM Well,retarded assholes like you who dont know shit about music piss me off.
brianbela 6 months ago
@brianbela do you always start your comments with insulting the persons intelligence? i've been looking at your comments just laughing everytime someone disagrees with you, maaan you gotta stop watching glenn beck hes poisoning your mind
MinM66 6 months ago
@brianbela jesus! how can you possible stand yourself then?
MALBGM 6 months ago
@MALBGM Are you on drugs?Or are you just retarded? We're not talking about what he did with other pieces you fucking tard.We're talking about his interpretation of THIS PIECE? And BTW ass,I know more about music than you could ever learn in 10 lifetimes---but one doesnt have to be a great performer to not like a performance---got it douche?? You Gould worshippers are just total idiots!!You sound like a religious fanatic talking about this guy. LOL NEWSFLASH: He wasnt that big a deal.
brianbela 6 months ago
Glenn Gould=Over rated. This is waaaay waaaaay too slow of a tempo in my opinoin. But---to each his own.
brianbela 8 months ago
Somehow I hear Celibidache
quinto34 8 months ago
If one of the people which write negative comments play better than GG, I accept them and please by your self create a video response, is not, their are kidding me.
mpolith 8 months ago
I am not competent, but my feeling is that Glenn Gould disagrees with the text of Beethoven, and this is why his interpretation is somehow 'non-standard'. In any case, there is no real 'scandal', strange does not mean wrong.
frankymountain 9 months ago
If you listen to his Chopin Sonata, you'll understand what he's doing here. :)
watch?v=y0wErcLg1Pg
rsdmse 9 months ago
@ClassicalMusicPL : You are forgetting that Beethoven was a plumber.... :-)
bersa888 9 months ago 2
Still all the hatred in the world couldn't stop him from humming to his playing
RoyalDecapitation 9 months ago
ahahahah Totally crazy! :) but a genius...
diegriva 9 months ago 3
Agreed with fbager , why play a piece if all you're doing is following the crowd.
Take for example, the difference between Toscanini and Bernstein with the 9th Symphony. Night and day. And who is to say who is correct? A Beethoven expert? Please, no. I prefer Bernstein's but I listen to the Toscanini, too. I suspect that when Gould said he hated a Beethoven work, it's more love hate.
And, I take issue with people who read books and then decide if they like a piece of music.
mu99ins 9 months ago
@alienalienss oh, was that the point of this performance? thanks for informing me...thats the biggest crock i've ever heard
kriteon 9 months ago
he was a great pianist, but no doubt crazy. Only a crazy person can record a piece like that just to explain why he doesn't like it, ah ah
luigiperso 10 months ago
@alienalienss its disrespectful to the music and this performance is awful.
kriteon 10 months ago 2
wow
newFranzFerencLiszt 10 months ago
To me there is not much point saying you don't like an interpretation simply because it doesn't follow the same parameters as other ones. I believe we are far better off listening to different recordings as entirely separate works of art.
fbager 11 months ago 2
Comment removed
MrRiversidepiano 11 months ago
@ClassicalMusicPL
"Copernicus was a woman" xD
For those who don't know polish movies, "Copernicus was a woman" is a quote from "Sexmission" :)
tajniak4 11 months ago
Haha this is actually more of a commentary on the piece than a performance of it. Glenn Gould is one of my favorites but man he really socked it to a piece if he didn't like it.
EdoFrenkel 11 months ago
@ClassicalMusicPL
LOL! Well said!:-)
Arpeggione2 11 months ago
Not Horowitz, that's for sure. He should stick to Bach. Too slow.
orqsilva 11 months ago
@orqsilva XD Its a blessing that he plays it slow, you will get what I mean when you hear the majority of all his other inteperations such as his moonlight sonata 3rd movement, super fast!
Vesivian 11 months ago
where's the scandal? he's playing very Gouldish, as it should be. Did he miss notes or crash somewhere? I don't understand.
Tsotne16 1 year ago 10
yeah I aggree, this piece is a 100% really Gouldish and if he hadn't liked the piece
he wouldn't have recorded it like some other sonatas from Beethoven.
jandoreenpriyario 11 months ago
@Tsotne16 The scandal is that he played it so poorly.And if he didnt like the piece,He shouldnt have played it.He did the same scandalous treatment to Mozart.He didnt like Mozart,yet he recorded his pieces in a mechanically insultng manner.Glen Gould is over rated in my opinion.The only reason any one remembers him is because of his "Eccentricities",his humming,the way he sat at the piano.And if he thought he was putting down Beethoven here he was wrong---The only one he put down was himself.
brianbela 8 months ago
thumbs down if you didn't like brianbela's comment
Tsotne16 8 months ago 4
@Tsotne16 Thumbs up if you think this is the WORST interpretation of Beethovens Appassionata you've ever heard.
brianbela 8 months ago
@brianbela look, it sounds like bad music, which is precicely Glenn Gould's intent. You're barking up the wrong tree
munkybrain 8 months ago
@Tsotne16 he didnt like the piece and took a long time for him to push him to record it? i think
violinist1994 6 months ago
@Tsotne16 Classical stupidity
Elze77 4 months ago
@Tsotne16
He did play very bad trills. He DID have the technical skills, but playing Gouldish on Beethoven is the scandal.
pchk1 4 months ago
@pchk1 I think the trills are quite original. Only Gould could come up with that. e.g: 0:14 and it's ending.
Tsotne16 4 months ago
@Tsotne16
Yup original, but nope bad.
pchk1 4 months ago
@pchk1 That's what I'm saying, pal :)
Tsotne16 4 months ago
@Tsotne16 I read so much of the fighting about this pianist was good this one was bad. Gould was a great pianist just like Rubinstein, Horowitz, Cziffra, Hofmann etc... It's all about what is pleasing to ones ears.
MrClassicalMusic1 4 months ago
@ClassicalMusicPL I know this piece well, and this is a terrible interpretation. I think actually he didn't have the technical skill to do it justice and so he butchered it to fit his limitations.
mc0558 1 year ago
@mc0558
That makes absolutely zero sense. Have you seen his transcription of La Valse? Gould had the technical skill to do anything he wanted. You're just a hater. This is obviously not my favourite interpretation of this piece. But I actually kinda like it.
Or hey, maybe I could look up Yundi Li's interpretation and know exactly what I'm going hear before he plays the first note.
Hater.
ProkofievRules 11 months ago
@ProkofievRules I don't know what I said to provoke this--maybe that Gould's rendition of the Appasionata Sonata is worse than bad; its horrific. But let me make myself perfectly clear, Glenn Gould is one of my favorite pianists and far more frequently than not his innovative "interpretations" are highly successful. I don't hate him at all, much the contrary.
mc0558 11 months ago
@mc0558 he has one of the best techniques in the world. I love Gould because he has his own style and he can use it in a lot of piano pieces, it's amazing.
Zoldi77 9 months ago 2
@mc0558 Are you kidding me? Even famous virtuoso pianists like Rubinstein admire his technique. You have no idea what you are talking about. What makes Glenn Gould astonishing is that he produces abnormal interpretations while having the technique to back it up.
NimbleTurtle13 8 months ago 2
:--D
He used to always say, "but it works" . It's a mystery to me how he could have though that this worked this way.
It's a travesty!
mc0558 1 year ago
What is in that bootle, beside the feet of the piano???
matematicaufes 1 year ago
I like Gould, but this is sooo painful to listen to. Maybe, if I listen to it 20 or so times, I may appreciate it.
analyticaa 1 year ago
I recommend Valentina Lisitsa's interpretation of this piece. I think it's better than Glenn Gould's and Horowitz's. Actually, I think it's better than any other I've heard :)
I also think every genius has moments of banality, clumsiness or even ridicule.
pereKstor 1 year ago
.... allegro assai my butt... Gould generally goes at the speed of light, and I love it when he does that... I hate that he slows this one down though...
kb27787 1 year ago
I think he hated the performing tradition of the piece, fragmented with sudden extreme tempo changes. He hated showiness. You could practically set a metronome to Gould's performance and the tempo would hardly vary. He brings out the grand architecture of the piece, building it to a magnificent and glorious apex, far beyond any other pianist's conception.
dgillettnj 1 year ago
This is not the correct tempo. But perhaps it is Glenn saying to Ludwig, "perhaps sir, it would have been better to notate your composition in this fashion, with all due respect"
gigie555 1 year ago
@gigie555 OMG, every time, every time Gould changes the tempo people comment over and over. He is an interpreter, he didn't sign any contract with any God saying that he will just read the score like a robot.
PesceA 1 year ago
@PesceA
Please don't misunderstand me. I love Gould, especially his Bach.
I understand he must interpret the music, but Bach is not Beethoven. With Bach there
is more freedom for interpretation because of the lack of musical notations. Gould's
great sense of metronomic tempo and precision is what makes his Bach superior to others.
But Beethoven was always at odds with soloists who didn't follow his notations and wandered.
I much prefer pianists like Brendel or Kempff in that respect.
gigie555 1 year ago
@gigie555 Do you know his performance of the 3rd movement of Mozart's 24th? There he Bach-ifies Mozart, turning the movement into a fugue and it works beautifully.
But this is really painful!
mc0558 1 year ago
@PesceA
1. following notatiions and expressing oneself through music are not mutually exclusive. the notations beethoven had put down gives a player some general directions to follow, but there are certainly many areas that are still "open to interpretation" (like how you strike a key, how loud/soft a note should sound, voicing etc.)
2. if gould insists on playing the movement in a painfully slow tempo, it becomes gould's own composition cos this is clearly against what beethoven had intended
fuckshitass911 1 year ago
i think this recording is good for people wanting to learn this piece because he plays it so slow can we can hear al fast parts easier, its almost as if he purposely played it at this tempo to help people learn.
stefomate 1 year ago
@stefomate i don`t think i have heard bether words today :)
zelihic 1 year ago
Playing it like this increases the tension, its held longer, and dare I say, at times tortuous as you wait for the resolution. I think it fits the darker nature of the piece as a whole.
Whereas many play this in a fiery whirlwind of passion, Gould plays it darker, more ominous, but undercut with a deep passion. Like a magma chamber waiting to erupt.
imperator332 1 year ago
i thought beethoven had written allegro assai as the tempo marking for this movement. sounded more like lento assai to me.
frquently, gould played this piece so slowly that the momentum were lost even though pedals were applied.
didn't sound passionate to me at all. as the overall dynamics were too thin.
fuckshitass911 1 year ago
It is very strange. Even if everything is so unconventional in this rendition I don't want to stop listening to it. I like Gould very much but I have the feeling that Beethoven wouldn't agree with me. On the other hand we will never know what is "right" or "wrong". So I will just enjoy this interpretation one more time!!!
2kep 1 year ago
Since when somebody who has no sense of musicality is called a "genius" ? If beethoven could hear this, his bones would creak!!!!
TheMusician1992 1 year ago 4
@TheMusician1992 He sure would, if he heard what you just said. Sense of musicality is just what common sense considers to be good, and that is pathetic. He's a genius becouse he doesn't care about that. Beethoven reached that point too,just look at his last piece. He understood that,and so does mr. genius Gould
PaulThePuppetier 1 year ago
@TheMusician1992 "Somebody who has no sense of musicality" have you just called yourself?
choiseofdeads 1 year ago
What's the scandal?
Also, this is a horrible recording. His playing is so percussive.
g3org33r3 1 year ago
Well I have to take back what I just wrote... re-reading the comments I see most know we aren't dealing with dross here. But it's true people who don't get Gould just don't get him. I submit if you do you know immediately he's a rare, idiosyncratic genius.
lmalinofskyjr 1 year ago
Many of the comments below prove Swift's observation that "When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him". Naturally, few understand what is so elevated above the ordinary.
lmalinofskyjr 1 year ago 2
Well, it's not any more original or imaginative than someone painting a mustache on the Mona Lisa, but there is something that interests me: analytical as he was, I'm wondering how he justified playing the trills slowly at the opening, and then at normal speed when they recur at 1:34. That REALLY makes no sense. I mean the whole thing sounds like a "fu*k you" to the piece which he must have disliked or not understood. Maybe he thought he was having one at the expense of the record company.
gtimny 1 year ago
Glenn Gould was hot!
cedricrlongreen 1 year ago
Sounds like Glenn forgot to take a shot of espresso :) Fun interpretation, I am hearing so many notes I've never heard when played by others.
inazuma3gou 1 year ago 2
I like it though. It's a unique approach to the Sonata. Though for a normal (I mean, average person type), it'll be boring.
erken 1 year ago
I just can't find Allegro Assai here.
erken 1 year ago
Inner voice and counterpoint being brought out in a piece like this LOL Gould can make everything sound Bachian... and I found it interesting enough to listen through to the end of course... a very creative interpretation as always... as someone used to say "this nut's a g