This has got to be one of the best performances ever

[ranniks]

[awesom_o]

Gould's Beethoven is highly underrated, imo. 

The only composers he really didn't play well at all were the ones he hated-Mozart and Chopin.

Here he is at his best. Not merely 'interpreting' the music, but composing it fresh in the moment!

I'm not sure there has ever been a pianist who used the piano as expressively as Glenn Gould. Not one who lived into the age of recordings. He played the piano differently from others. He almost reminds me more of a string player than a pianist.

Have you heard his Prokofiev 7th?

[bronnestam]

Why, oh why is it CONSTANTLY mentioned, concerning Gould, that he "hated" this and "hated" that???

Whenever I watch a clip with him or look at some discussion about him, it is always mentioned how much he hated that certain piece. It is quite funny, however, that the details about which piece and which composer he really hated, vs loved, are very different depending on who you ask.

What was it with Gould? I never hear, when we speak about other pianists, that they "hate" anything in particular. They play the piano and they usually like what they play, that's why there are pianists, I suppose ...  

If everything that is said about everything Gould did not like, I think it is a miracle that he played the piano at all.

[awesom_o]

Why, oh why is it CONSTANTLY mentioned, concerning Gould, that he "hated" this and "hated" that???

I believe it is because Glenn rather famously declared

 "I have always felt that the whole centre core of the piano repertoire is a colossal waste of time"

Glenn Gould made some of the best recordings of his time, and he also made some of the worst recordings of his time.

He was just that cool.