EARLY GOULD...THE ONLY RECORDING OF BEETHOVEN'S OP. 101...
Sébastien Melmoth | Hôtel d'Alsace, PARIS | 06/04/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Gould's early work is remarkable. He already had his exquisite timing; moreover, his digital dexterity was absolutely miraculous: he played things as he did because HE COULD do it. None of the great pianists really had GG's gift.
Now, with Beethoven I've long been exclusively a Kempff fan. Kempff had great control and expression, plus he had a real insight into Beethoven's musical architechtonics. Gould has been damned for his vibrant Mozart and his peculiar Beethoven. But I have to say that I prefer GG's Mozart to anybody else's; plus, now I'm getting the vision of his Beethoven.
GG's recordings of Beethoven's late sonatas were done early in his career. Here, the Op. 101 was done in 1952 prior to his great Goldberg's recording of 1955. This is the only performance of GG's B's Op. 101 available. The wonderful Opp. 109-11 were done in 1956. They're incredible, and now I actually prefer them to Kempff's readings.
This is real art."