Gieseking performance

[PaulNaud]

One af my favourite piano performer is Walter Gieseking. I have the complete music for piano solo by Mozart performed by this great artist.
I've noticed however that in some places he tends to rush a little bit, e.g. in Mozart variations. Did anybody listen to these old recordings? Do you think it's done on purpose?

[BoliverAllmon]

I haven't heard his performances before, but I here they are great.

[stevie]

I haven't heard his performances before, but I here they are great.

man tha  BOLIVAH is such a douchePølã® ßëår

[pita bread]

For a man dubbed "Gensuiking" he sure lacks CG. I find his impressionistic playing extremely boring.

[PaulNaud]

Gieseking is regarded as one of the best performer of Debussy and Ravel !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[arensky]

For a man dubbed "Gensuiking" he sure lacks CG. I find his impressionistic playing extremely boring.

Harsh and ugly!

BUT this was after WWII. Before WWII he sounded like a different pianist, and this was when he made his reputation as agreat player. He was a member of the Nazi Party and when he toured Allied nations after the war his concerts were protested and picketed. I think this got to him, I think his playing sounds bored and disinterested post WWII. But the 1920's and 30's performances are magnificent, particularly a recording of "Reflets dans l'eau" and Bach's Italian Concerto.

A thought; he died in the recording studio in the middle of the complete Beethoven Sonatas, his final project. His recording of the "Pastorale" Sonata op.28 in D major is incomplete, the final mvt. is missing; I wonder if he died playing that; just kind of floated off..maybe he found peace there and went with it; he was unhappy, his wife had died some years before.

Beats dying live in the Grieg Concerto like Barere; how embarrasing...

[BoliverAllmon]

man tha  BOLIVAH is such a douchePølã® ßëår

ouch i am sooooo hurt

[stevie]

ouch i am sooooo hurt

[BoliverAllmon]

is that you and your mommy playing in the mud? oh so cute.

[brewtality]

Hmm, I find Gieseking to be one of the most imaginative pianists I've heard, anything but boring. It's hard to play a 5'13" Ondine and have it sound prosaic. 

[crazy for ivan moravec]

I've noticed however that in some places he tends to rush a little bit, e.g. in Mozart variations.

i don't know if im correct, but i've noticed that the "old" pianists, i mean horowitz or cherkassky down, seemed to have lots of rushings which i thought were never done on purpose... rubinstein, gieseking...

just a thought...

[gruffalo]

i really dont like his debussy. recordings in the 50s.

[maxy]

Gieseking is great!  Not all of his recs are interesting but still: a fantastic pianist.  His Rach 3 with Barbirolli is phenomenal.  His early Beethoven 4th concerto is gold. 

[ramseytheii]

One af my favourite piano performer is Walter Gieseking. I have the complete music for piano solo by Mozart performed by this great artist.
I've noticed however that in some places he tends to rush a little bit, e.g. in Mozart variations. Did anybody listen to these old recordings? Do you think it's done on purpose?

I doubt it was done on purpose.  Gieseking was not a pianist for details and rarely practiced.  It's been said that many a time the eprformance he was giving on stage was the first time he ever played a certain work.  His book, written in conjunction with his teacher, details techniques of memorization away from the keyboard, techniques of which he was a master. 

Walter Ramsey

[PaulNaud]

I doubt it was done on purpose.  Gieseking was not a pianist for details and rarely practiced.  It's been said that many a time the eprformance he was giving on stage was the first time he ever played a certain work.  His book, written in conjunction with his teacher, details techniques of memorization away from the keyboard, techniques of which he was a master. 

Walter Ramsey

On the contrary, Gieseking was very keen on details. He liked practicing to perfection.A special care was given to the style of the work performed. He possessed a seemingly limitless range of tones and shadings. Unlike other artists, Gieseking's own approach was the same from his first discs in 1924 until four days before his death in 1956. His interpretive art did not develop or change, but instead expanded with the addition of new repertoire. Nearly each composer he approached came to life in a unique way, especially Debussy, his live Mozart recordings, Beethoven, Brahms, Liszt, and especially the few examples of his Faure and Scriabin.

[maxy]

I doubt it was done on purpose.  Gieseking was not a pianist for details and rarely practiced.  It's been said that many a time the eprformance he was giving on stage was the first time he ever played a certain work.  His book, written in conjunction with his teacher, details techniques of memorization away from the keyboard, techniques of which he was a master. 

Walter Ramsey

not a pianist for details?  by listening to his Ravel/Debussy you could rewrite the score with each indication...  you can clearly hear the difference between ppp an pp.

indeed he was not too much about practicing on the instrument, but he did say something close to :''once the technique is aquired, it is possible to learn a piece from the score without the instrument.  It is all about focus.  Some passages by Liszt and later composers may require physical training''

He did admit that he had to work more than 6 hours one day to properly play Chopin's op 10#1.

He was a monster.

His autobiography is very interesting, and very short: about 60 small pages.