# Glenn Gould's Mozart Piano Sonata Cycle



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

I for one love this collection. It is not for the purist as I'm sure the majority of you all know, but it is splendid to hear Mozart with that Gouldian touch of precision! I especially love his Rondo Alla Turca it is so brilliant the way he builds it.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Sports news: Gould plays Mozart. Mozart loses.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

KenOC said:


> Sports news: Gould plays Mozart. Mozart loses.


I'm not sure what you mean?


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## jdec (Mar 23, 2013)

Captainnumber36 said:


> I for one love this collection. It is not for the purist as I'm sure the majority of you all know, but it is splendid to hear Mozart with that Gouldian touch of precision! I especially love his Rondo Alla Turca it is so brilliant the way he builds it.


Now the opposite extreme:


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

jdec said:


> Now the opposite extreme:


BTW jdec, I do love all of Mozart's Piano Sonatas and think they are brilliant works. I remember when I first heard Gould's version, I didn't know anything about Gould, and it blew me away.

It is a strong, unique and insightful version.

The Lang Lang version isn't nearly as hip!

Here is what Lang Lang was TRYING to do:


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## jdec (Mar 23, 2013)

I prefer this more "measured" rendition (and I'm a Gould fan):


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

jdec said:


> I prefer this more "measured" rendition (and I'm a Gould fan):


Can't go wrong with Horowitz! But I still say the Gould version is the most theatrical.


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## jdec (Mar 23, 2013)

Captainnumber36 said:


> Can't go wrong with Horowitz! But I still say the Gould version is the most theatrical.


You have not heard Yuja's .


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

jdec said:


> You have not heard Yuja's .


   :lol:


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

I had to rewind the first time she changed up the left hand, I thought I heard it wrong!


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Mitsuko Uchida: Mozart - Sonata No. 11 in A KV331, 'Rondo Alla Turca'
Clear winner for me. :clap:


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

But if i'm to be critical, while that is a fun version, it's more of a shock value one time thing. I wouldn't want to listen to that over and over again. It lacks fluidity and jumps around genres every second.


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## jdec (Mar 23, 2013)

Captainnumber36 said:


> But if i'm to be critical, while that is a fun version, it's more of a shock value one time thing. I wouldn't want to listen to that over and over again. It lacks fluidity and jumps around genres every second.


Yep, I agree, just a funny encore mostly for showmanship.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

jdec said:


> Yep, I agree, just a funny encore mostly for showmanship.


And she has a lot of that! Very talented pianist, I'll have to listen to more of her!


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## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

Really enjoyed listening to those different takes on the rondo alla turca! Here's Yuja Wang backstage doing a slightly different version, but look at those fingers blur while she plays!






Confession time: I had tickets to see Lang Lang a few years ago in Dublin and I completely forgot about it. Next day after the show they played him on the radio and I remembered, but I was kinda like, ah yeah, meh. Had seen him previously and didn't like the show at all. He was like a brainless puppet clanging the keys and grinning like an idiot because he was dazzling a few in the audience with the pyrotechnics. Didn't do it for me...


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## Razumovskymas (Sep 20, 2016)

Captainnumber36 said:


> I'm not sure what you mean?


He probably means that Gould's version has nothing to do with Mozart but revolves totally around Gould's neurotic personality.

Works for me when he plays Bach but doesn't when he plays Mozart.


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## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

Razumovskymas said:


> He probably means that Gould's version has nothing to do with Mozart but revolves totally around Gould's neurotic personality.
> 
> Works for me when he plays Bach but doesn't when he plays Mozart.


Also, I think ken is referring to the fact that Gould didn't like Mozart. "He died too old", or something like that...


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## Mal (Jan 1, 2016)

Uchida for me. I have her complete box set of Mozart Sonatas, Penguin rosette winner, and it's great. Here's another good one from Elisso Bolkvadze:


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## Mal (Jan 1, 2016)

Razumovskymas said:


> He probably means that Gould's version has nothing to do with Mozart but revolves totally around Gould's neurotic personality.


I think it's more Tourettes than neuroticism :devil:. Anyway, enough amateur psychology, I just don't like the way he plays it - too slow, too affected, and too clangy. And how is he any more precise than other pianists in this thread?


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## Mal (Jan 1, 2016)

All the notes in the right order, but not necessarily using the right instruments. Loving the Ondes Martenot and cello, but could do without the kazoo. (May have my electronic instrument wrong, someone in comments says it's a Thermenvox﻿. A what?)


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

I do try to listen to whatever Gould recorded. It tends to be wacky and there is much that doesn't convince (or even please) me but occasionally I find something that is a real diamond (Bach, obviously, but also Beethoven and some Mozart).

The less than conventional Mozart sonatas recordings I really like are those by Gulda. If I have it right he became a jazz pianist, having given up playing classical, for an extended period as he didn't like the stuffy classical world. But then he returned to record his Mozart - he recorded the sonatas himself (no studio or label) and there are some passages spoiled (but sometimes you might almost say "enhanced") by distortion. I couldn't find a YouTube link to the Rondo alla Turca but there are a few examples of Gulda's Mozart there including the whole of K331 (link - 



 - alla Turca is some 21 minutes 30 seconds in).


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Captainnumber36 said:


> I for one love this collection. It is not for the purist as I'm sure the majority of you all know, but it is splendid to hear Mozart with that Gouldian touch of precision! I especially love his Rondo Alla Turca it is so brilliant the way he builds it.


I totally agree. This is a splendid set and Gould sounds as if he is having fun. I certainly do when I listen to it.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Mal said:


> All the notes in the right order, but not necessarily using the right instruments. Loving the Ondes Martenot and cello, but could do without the kazoo. (May have my electronic instrument wrong, someone in comments says it's a Thermenvox﻿. A what?)


Unfortunately I didn't even find this funny. The cellist was good though, the pianist should've used a real piano.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Mal said:


> I think it's more Tourettes than neuroticism :devil:. Anyway, enough amateur psychology, I just don't like the way he plays it - too slow, too affected, and too clangy. *And how is he any more precise than other pianists in this thread?*


Really? His attention to each and every note in his traditional more staccato approach to playing is how I view this as being more precise than the other pianists in this thread.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Barbebleu said:


> I totally agree. This is a splendid set and Gould sounds as if he is having fun. I certainly do when I listen to it.


I enjoy the Lily Krauss version for a more traditional take on Mozart.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

I have the Uchida on disc. But my personal favourite version is by Schiff, from those I heard. He stresses certain notes more and voice lines, but it works well to my ears, and is still faithful to the score.


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## Razumovskymas (Sep 20, 2016)

I totally love Gould's recording style so if anyone knows a version that has the same sound but with more Mozart and less Gould??


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Razumovskymas said:


> I totally love Gould's recording style so if anyone knows a version that has the same sound but with more Mozart and less Gould??


A very good-sounding Mozart sonata set, and my current favorite, is by Fazil Say.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

I have another set with Christoph Eschenbach. Rather good too. Very different from Gould, well who isn't, but I think every half way decent pianist brings something to the party when they tackle these sonatas.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

You want to hear Mozart done poorly on piano, from someone who doesn't seem to have a clue there's Glenn Gould.

You want to hear Mozart done brilliantly on piano with respect for repeats and delightful ornamentation, there's Roberto Prosseda.

You pay your money any way you want to.


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## Mal (Jan 1, 2016)

Captainnumber36 said:


> Unfortunately I didn't even find this funny. ...


I agree, it's more strange and upsetting, than funny. And the same might be said about Decostruttori Postmodernisti's performance :devil:.


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