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Mozart: The Piano Sonatas, Vol. II 2 (2 CD Box Set) (CBS)
Mozart, Gould
Mozart: The Piano Sonatas, Vol. II 2 (2 CD Box Set) (CBS)
Genre: Classical
 
  •  Track Listings (12) - Disc #1

Throughout his career, Glenn Gould exhibited a haughty disdain for Mozart's music, on one occasion going so far as to say that Mozart died too late rather than too soon. Any lover of Mozart's music, confronted with these r...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Mozart, Gould
Title: Mozart: The Piano Sonatas, Vol. II 2 (2 CD Box Set) (CBS)
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: Sony
Release Date: 1/14/1991
Album Type: Box set
Genre: Classical
Styles: Forms & Genres, Fantasies, Sonatas, Historical Periods, Classical (c.1770-1830), Modern, 20th, & 21st Century
Number of Discs: 2
SwapaCD Credits: 2
UPC: 074644561326

Synopsis

Amazon.com essential recording
Throughout his career, Glenn Gould exhibited a haughty disdain for Mozart's music, on one occasion going so far as to say that Mozart died too late rather than too soon. Any lover of Mozart's music, confronted with these recordings of the piano sonatas, could well be tempted to say the same thing about Gould. The playing is willful and self-indulgent, characterized by outrageous exaggerations of tempo and dynamics and a meticulous, cold-blooded, and gleeful mockery of Mozart's style. It's as if a superintelligent 3-year-old with the technique of an angel had decided to have fun. Gould plays the opening of K. 331 as a chord study, at less than half the appropriate tempo, daring us to hear it as a dance. Elsewhere, his playing is merely an accompaniment to seemingly spontaneous cascades of humming and vocalizing, Gould's way of reminding us that he's playing not for us, not for Mozart, but for himself. Yet, in spite of all the roadblocks, one hears the most extraordinary fingers of the 20th century accomplishing things in these accounts that might have astonished even Mozart, and one begins to understand what Gould was talking about when he said these pieces offered a kind of "tactile pleasure." If that floats your boat, then these readings are for you. And if it gets your goat, well, Gould will be remembered and admired for other things, and Mozart will survive even this travesty. --Ted Libbey

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CD Reviews

Horrible
dolcissima2780 | Pennsylvania, USA | 04/16/2003
(1 out of 5 stars)

"This is the most ridiculous recording I have ever heard. I want my money back! Gould ruins each piece (even the few he plays well) with humming in the background. As picky as record producers are, I am surprised they even wasted the money to reissue this recording on Masterworks. The humming makes it unbearable to listen to. Some of his interpretations are fine, but he completely destroys the D minor Fantasia. I could play it better! Great music, horrible recording!"
Idiosyncratic Treasure
R. Lichter | Black Point, CA USA | 07/14/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Has there ever been a pianist as controversial as Glenn Gould? Reviewers, amateur and professional alike, make the assumption that they know how the music ought to be played. Frankly, I don't know which is the more presumtuous, Gould, in playing an Andante movement Allego molto, or reviewers, in making this assumption. Moreover, the philosophical underpinnings of reviewers' judgements are typically unexamined, or obscure at best. Gould represents one extreme of piano playing; he does indeed often hold himself above the composer and do just what he feels like doing. However, at the other extreme we find another kind of egocentricity, pianists who regard their interpretation as "authentic"; who bring their considerable intelligence and scholarship to bear on scores and manuscripts and autographs and historical books, rendering a performance (in their view) as close as possible to the composer's intentions. Oddly, some of these peformances are a quite as idiosyncratic of Mr Gould's. I've always been uncomfortable with reviewers and pianists who presume there is an ultimate interpretation, and that deviation from this is wrong. Rather, I think, the musician's job is revelatory, and this Mr Gould accomplishes in spades. He could not have accomplished this without both an extraordinary technique and a playful, if intense, spirit of experimentation. An auditioner familiar with "traditional" interpretations of these sonatas approaching this one with a judgemental mind may well be appalled. But someone free of the shackles of preconception will find doors and vistas open he never dreamed of. Would I include this CD set in a time capsule to another galaxy as representative of Mozart? Not without a companion set, perhaps by Walter Klien. How much richer and truer a message from planet Earth these two are than either alone."
This isn't Mozart. It's glenn gould
M. Huang | Orange County , CA USA | 07/27/2000
(3 out of 5 stars)

"This recording is not recommended for anyone not familiar with Mozart's. People unfamiliar with these pieces should go with recordings by Andras' Schiff, Daniel Barenboim, or Mitsuko Uchida. Glenn Gould's teacher must be turning in his grave listening to this recording. Of course Glenn never really liked Mozart. One could say that he hated his music. On the other hand Mozart's music is so beautiful, that it sounds good even when the player absolutely kills it. The funny thing is that some of the things glenn does to these pieces actually sounds pretty good. The Introduction to K.331 is absoulutely beautiful. I would definately recommend this recording to people who are familiar with Mozart and want an alternative view. Be prepared for super fast fast movements in some pieces, super slow in other movements, and, in my opinion, Glenn gould's ammusing vocal acommpaniment. In the end, though, Mozart beautiful muisc wins despite Glenn goulds Valiant but futile effort to bespoil these beautiful works."