[f_minor] Bravo Fortissimo Howler

[michael macelletti]

fred, you're absolutely right. the brahms speeds seem quite normal nowadays.  maybe back then they were not considered so. , although i don't remember it.  i mean. the serkin was out then and he's not that much faster, just a little more pompous.  gould does have a way , though,  of breathing new life into worn-out chestnuts.        too bad about toronto. nice city. 



________________________________
From: "Houpt, Fred" <fred.houpt at rbc.com>
To: Discussion of the Canadian pianist Glenn Gould. <f_minor at glenngould.org>
Sent: Tue, June 29, 2010 4:13:57 PM
Subject: Re: [f_minor] Bravo Fortissimo Howler

 
What a funny thing for Gould to say.  I was recently 
listening to his infamous Brahms Piano Concerto with Bernstein and the NY 
Phil....this is on You Tube (bless them for all the goodies uploaded)....and you 
know I found myself not finding the interpretation of the first movement as 
outrageous and as "teetering" on the edge of sanity as many felt when they first 
heard it. The thing with Gould's extreme interpretations is that he is almost 
shouting at us like a Zen Roshi to wake up and listen to a very familiar piece 
in a totally fresh and unique way.  Gould used extremism to make those 
points, much to many people's dismay.  I don't know...as I age I am not as 
put off by the exaggerated mannerisms....and I am more apt to try to grasp what 
his enormously fertile intellect is endeavoring to uncover, even if by grossly 
overt means.  
 
Finally for now, I also put on GG on Y.T. playing a few 
extracts of the Art of the Fugue by Bach and you see that this was late in his 
career....and what fascinated me more than the actual playing which was 
ethereal, was the (again) extreme hand gestures as he conducts one hand over the 
other which was playing.  It seems on the surface level to be a bit 
teetering towards spasmodic almost epileptic body motions but then he just as 
quickly subsides when adding the second hand, not losing one single watt of 
energetic motion.  It's mesmerizing to watch as it is so calming to listen 
to.......
 
I'll be taking a powder from the office 
soon....
 
Cheers from bombed out downtown Toronto (don't even ask 
what last week was like)
 
Fred Houpt


________________________________
 From: f_minor-bounces at glenngould.org 
[mailto:f_minor-bounces at glenngould.org] On Behalf Of maryellen 
jensen
Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2010 4:00 PM
To: f_minor at glenngould.org
Subject: [f_minor] Bravo Fortissimo 
Howler

 
"I take a powder right after a concert because I 
have this kook contingent who follow me from place to place, and some of them 
are really teetering on the balance." 
- Glenn 
Gould

 "Take a powder" is old slang for leave quickly, 
disappear, get away fast. 

 I recently sent the following to another 
member of this List:
 Bazzana (Wondrous Strange) quotes Gould's 
unsent 'personal ad' on pages 321, 322, "Wanted: Friendly, companionably 
reclusive, alcoholically abstemious, tirelessly talkative, ..." etc etc which 
ends with the address "Avalon Peninsula, Nfld." BUT in Mesaros' book the 
same 'personal ad' is quoted on pages 341,342 with the address: "Anaton 
Penisslow Nfld." Can you believe that? I'm afraid that the Freudian Dr. 
Mesaros made an erroneous Big Penis out of a geographical feature and Gould's 
notoriously tricky handwriting: 
         From Avalon Peninsula to Anaton Penisslow! 
More than most 
I love anagrams, wordplay, double-entendre, homophones,
The London Daily 
Telegraph cryptic crossword and I can assure you that
Mesaros is a clumsy 
wordsmith at best - howlers ahoy matey.
 Mesaros really needed a 
proofreader and a fact checker. Another case in point is an entry in a Gould 
'notebook' quoted on pages 349,350,351 in Bazzana and pages 340,341 in Mesaros. 
Mesaros states that the text concerned Gould's feelings for Cornelia Foss 
(although her name never appears) BUT Bazzana states that the text is from a 
Gould 'notebook' dated 1980. Bazzana doesn't use conjecture, he states a 
fact, a date and doesn't presume to know who Gould was scribbling about. Sure - 
let's talk about Mesaros' book, by all 
means.
Mary

 



  
________________________________
 Hotmail: Trusted email with Microsoft’s powerful SPAM protection. Sign up now. _______________________________________________________________________

This e-mail may be privileged and/or confidential, and the sender does not waive
any related rights and obligations. Any distribution, use or copying of this e-mail or the information
it contains by other than an intended recipient is unauthorized.
If you received this e-mail in error, please advise me (by return e-mail or otherwise) immediately.

Ce courriel peut contenir des renseignements protégés et confidentiels.
Lexpéditeur ne renonce pas aux droits et obligations qui sy rapportent.
Toute diffusion, utilisation ou copie de ce courriel ou des renseignements quil contient
par une personne autre que le destinataire désigné est interdite.
Si vous recevez ce courriel par erreur, veuillez men aviser immédiatement, 
par retour de courriel ou par un autre moyen. 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://ff0.org/pipermail/f_minor/attachments/20100630/229b2cec/attachment-0002.html>