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In Reply to: RE: 2 recent Bach Goldberg Variations vinyl: Sony vs. Erato productions... posted by ecl876 on November 20, 2015 at 22:52:48
Tharaud is a very fine pianist, it's a shame if his Goldberg Variations LP was badly made.
The Gould sounds interesting. The State of Wonder CD, which is an HDCD if you have that capability, had a considerably different sound than the original digital release, CD or LP.
As for commentary -- the notes on Gould's 1955 Goldberg LP are written by Gould himself (he often wrote his own), and are among the best LP notes I've ever read. Alas, they start on the back of the cover, but continue on the paper sleeve, gone from many original LPs, including mine. BUT -- you can read those notes and several others in their entirety in The Glenn Gould Reader, edited by Tim Page, a book I highly recommend.
Follow Ups:
They might be the best LP notes YOU read, but I'll be damned if I can understand them. I was an English major in college, but maybe you need a degree in music. Way too complex for me.
On another note, some of you classical guys in Music Lane are so far beyond my level of comprehension, it might as well be another language!
Recently I was clowning around in Music Lane, making fun of some people who take themselves and their opinions way too seriously. Of course, those people are rarely able to see the joke. Glenn Gould had a great sense of humor and was very entertaining on radio and TV as well as in print. The more you read his stuff and get to understand his style, the easier going it is. Hey, you may have to look up some terms in a music dictionary, but it's worth it. Try it -- you'll thank me.
I hope his sense of humor isn't catching: I may start wearing gloves in the summer.
Plus there are some mean snobs and pseudo intellectual keyboard warriors loiter there. Makes me think this is part of he reasons ppl. don't want to get into classical music. :/
Edits: 11/21/15
I tried to respond to some people there who take themselves (and their opinions) a bit too seriously with some (I thought!) truly goofy stuff, but I was only met with puzzlement.
If the game is who can produce the most inane stream of pompous nonsense, as it often seems to be in more than one AA forum, I am a force to be reckoned with. Do you think anyone in Music Lane will again demand that I "answer the question" any time soon? I think not. You're welcome.
. . . I can freely reckon with the full extent of your force! ;-)
(Actually, my favorite of your posts on that thread was the textless "Well said"!)
The "re-performance" by Zenph/Sony of Gould's 1955 recording.The used the original tapes to create software instructions for a Yamaha Disklavier, then played it on a Yamaha that was voiced to sound like Gould's Steinway, and recorded that. A really interesting project that I think was hugely successful. HDTracks has it, and you get it in both stereo and (better) binaural. The only problem with the binaural is that they put the "head" at the pianist's location, and it exaggerates the bass-on-the-left/treble-on-the-right a bit.
WW
"A man need merely light the filaments of his receiving set and the world's greatest artists will perform for him." Alfred N. Goldsmith, RCA, 1922
Edits: 11/22/15
One of the main ones is that Gould was hearing a Steinway sound and, one would think, molding his playing to that instrument, while Zenph gives us a Yamaha sound. Still, I really like the Zenph version myself - not least because the process manages to eliminate GG's wretched singing, one of his many egotistic conceits. Don't get me wrong, I like a lot of Gould's playing, but his reputation has always extended far beyond what it deserves IMHO, partly because his eccentric habits ("This nut's a genius") somehow appealed to a wider public beyond the usual classical audience.
I know - everyone argues about the voicing.
Still, I'd love to see this process done for some other recordings. I have a badly beat-up 10" Decca of Brahms' Variations on a Theme of Paganini in A-minor with Andor Foldes that I'd love to hear without all the noise. Some day maybe I'll spring for one of the expensive de-noise Pro Tools plugins (the cheapies don't cut it) and try to make it a little more listenable.
And yes, his fame had little to do with his playing, but I have to admit I'm still a fan.
WW
"A man need merely light the filaments of his receiving set and the world's greatest artists will perform for him." Alfred N. Goldsmith, RCA, 1922
I'd heard of the G. Variations for years and, over time, bought 4 versions by the most famous pianists(I dont even remember who they were but it included Gould). Then I heard Simone Dinnerstein and sold the rest. Amazing . They played the notes - she played the music.
Edits: 11/24/15
Funny - not to rain on your parade or anything, but I had the Dinnerstain recording myself for a short time. I then sold it and kept my others! (A couple of the variations on her recording had seemed a bit cautious to me.) De gustibus non est disputandum and all that, ;-)
I like the Gould performances (both old and new) myself, but my own fave is the cult favorite by Ekaterina Dershavina:
or
. . . but I don't know if this performance was ever on vinyl.
sounds pretty good via YouTube sample.
It seems to be a Gold berg Rush this year.
I will keep my eyes on Dershavina who's totally unknown to me.
No vinyl, I think.
I wonder how her French Suites and complete Haydn are.
Heard 'em?
"If people don't want to come, nothing will stop them" - Sol Hurok
What I heard sounded good. She's also got a Medtner release that came out that came out a couple of years ago. Excellent performances, but the tonal balance of the piano sounded just a bit strange on my system.
There are some of her in-concert performances floating around on the internet too, including the Diabelli Variations.
.
It makes sense cuz it's done by the same remastering engineer. ( Andreas Meyer ). I don't have the original CD release but it sure sounds brittle and wrong next to both releases. In fact, this was the rare case that I preferred the CD mastered from the analogue tape over the vinyl mastered from digital recording.
Sony deleted all the digital mention from the packaging and also gone is a large letter 'DIGITAL' slapped over the label. :)I also very much enjoy Gould's nerdy commentary. :D
Tharaud's Goldberg is contemplative and well planned done in his usual intellectual way. In some sense, the way he approaches the music is similar to Gould. ( not necessarily how they sound )
But he adds an extra harmonic overlay making sure the tunes stay rich and colorful. Never in your face or hurried, there is a sense of playfulness, too. 'Black Pearl' Adagio sounds like a backdrop for a French cinema. He maintains a high tension all through. The closing Aria diminishes like a ghost evaporating in the dark. I certainly appreciate his subtle yet dramatic reading.
This release is better served in digital format than analogue due to lack of QC in vinyl manufacturing. I am not sure if Erato is planning to press any more records but this sure isn't a good PR. A constant high noise floor is distracting unless you put it on a Crosley in which case probably don't matter. :/
Edits: 11/21/15
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