# Noisy performers



## janxharris (May 24, 2010)

I know of two: Celibidache and Glenn Gould. Anyone else?


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Serkin and Casals both grunted


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## Biffo (Mar 7, 2016)

Sir John Barbirolli was famous for his groaning. It seems to disturb some people more than it does me.


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## Totenfeier (Mar 11, 2016)

There is a Mahler 2nd on YouTube conducted by Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi. I don't mind a little conductor participation (_viz_. Barbirolli), but M2 is supposed to have _two_ soloists, not _three_!


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## Kollwitz (Jun 10, 2018)

Richard Goode goes far beyond humming at the piano, basically singing along. Saw him at Wigmore Hall without knowing about it, was disconcerting at first until I realised it was him.


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## bravenewworld (Jan 24, 2016)

If you've seen the Norton Lectures with Leonard Bernstein (_The Unanswered Question_, 1973), you'll know that his grunting on the piano demonstrations inches towards obstructing one's ability to hear the music. Endearing, yes. But if it weren't for the sublimity of what he had to say, as well as his prodigious talent as a pianist, I'd probably be annoyed by all the grunting and groaning. I can forgive him his sins, however.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Sir Colin Davis grunted occasionally as well.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Totenfeier said:


> There is a Mahler 2nd on YouTube conducted by Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi. I don't mind a little conductor participation (_viz_. Barbirolli), but M2 is supposed to have _two_ soloists, not _three_!


Kobayashi is super-noisy and sounds like a pig at times, grunting, snuffling and stamping around the podium. There's an even more hilarious Beethoven performance on youtube, by him, thats closely miked and picks up all sorts of gutteral sounds. Thankfully his recorded Beethoven cycle doesnt suffer from it (but there are still a couple of tiny moments in that). Here's the clip........if you listen you can hear what sounds like s dog growling during the livelier passages. Its not....its him. Lol


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

I recall "down-rating" Sinopoli's otherwise rather good Mahler owing to his intrusive vocal accompaniment.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Leonard Slatkin in his Telarc recording of the Tallis Fantasia has one loud case of singing along, at least in the LP version. Amazing they didn't edit/notice it for the release.


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## Andolink (Oct 29, 2012)

Fortepianist Malcolm Bilson is notorious.

Alfred Brendel sighs and moans too but less obviously.


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## Totenfeier (Mar 11, 2016)

Merl said:


> Kobayashi is super-noisy and sounds like a pig at times, grunting, snuffling and stamping around the podium. There's an even more hilarious Beethoven performance on youtube, by him, thats closely miked and picks up all sorts of gutteral sounds. Thankfully his recorded Beethoven cycle doesnt suffer from it (but there are still a couple of tiny moments in that). Here's the clip........if you listen you can hear what sounds like s dog growling during the livelier passages. Its not....its him. Lol


The anime version of _Samurai_ _Resurrection_ is what I kept thinking...


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Theres been a lot of noisy conductors. Ive a few Scherchen live discs and you can hear him moaning along at times and stamping at the podium.


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## Guest (Oct 8, 2018)

The Great Groaning Pianists - (jazz orientation - Keith Jarrett, Bud Powell, Erroll Garner and Oscar Peterson) -

https://observer.com/2015/12/the-great-groaning-pianists/

Who knew that there was a "groan taxonomy"? - "All groans are not alike-and some are more off-putting than others."


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

I had an uncle who used to chew and snap bubble gum when he played the piano.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

THIS beats them all!


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

Fazil Say could be called Fazil Sing. It doesn't bother me at all.


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## Albert Berry (Oct 5, 2018)

janxharris said:


> I know of two: Celibidache and Glenn Gould. Anyone else?


I despise Glenn Gould's musicianship. To me, even when the moaning is inaudible, he sounds like a machine, not a musician. My wife gets a great kick out of me muting something that is Gould, even when it isn't announced as Gould. His playing is, praise the Lord, unique. I can usually turn it off before the 3rd bar.

Yeah, I'm an opinionated old goat.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

I wonder, why all pianists? Why just pianists, and no violinists, cello players, guitarists... Is there something in the piano that causes those ridiculous sounds? If Keith Jarrett or Glenn Gould had played a classical guitar, basically it would have been difficult to hear the instrument.


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## Gordontrek (Jun 22, 2012)

I think by nature, musicians exhale while playing as a means of creating and releasing tension as part of musicianship. I'm a pretty silent pianist, for example, but when I pay attention I find myself quickly inhaling and slowly exhaling as I play. It's inaudible to anyone listening to me play but it's definitely there. I suppose some musicians engage their vocal chords as part of this process and those are the Glenn Goulds of the world. (This obviously doesn't really apply to woodwind/brass players who must exhale as a part of how their instruments operate)
If you want to hear a pretty epic grunt check out Bernstein's Rite of Spring with the London Symphony on Youtube. Just before the final chord he goes "hawarggh" and stomps on the podium. Kind of extra but also pretty boss.


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## adrien (Sep 12, 2016)

Jan Tawroszewicz grunted quite a bit on violin.


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## ribonucleic (Aug 20, 2014)

I don't know if Keith Jarrett manages to keep quiet when playing Bach, but in his jazz work, he moans like a cow with its leg caught in a fence.


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## Kiki (Aug 15, 2018)

ribonucleic said:


> I don't know if Keith Jarrett manages to keep quiet when playing Bach, but in his jazz work, he moans like a cow with its leg caught in a fence.


Don't know about his Bach, but Keith Jarrett is absolutely quiet in Shostakovich! .... I miss the moaning. :lol:


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## geralmar (Feb 15, 2013)

Biffo said:


> Sir John Barbirolli was famous for his groaning. It seems to disturb some people more than it does me.


About three decades ago I was experimenting with faux four channel sound by wiring the rear speakers up out of phase. Late one night in dimmed light I listened to the Mahler sixth symphony with Barbirolli conducting the New Philharmonia on two EMI/Angel LPs. During the quiet Andante movement I was distracted by strange undulating sounds isolated in the rear channels. Listening carefully I suddenly realized the heavy breathing, sighs and grunts of a man long dead were rising and falling behind me. The effect was unnerving.


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