Glenn Gould

What Dominique Pagani says

Dominique Pagani sees Glenn Gould as an immense pianist, whom he also calls puritanical and paranoid1. He finds him excellent in Bach and Brahms, and cites his version of The Art of Fugue2. He admires his Wagner transcriptions, in particular Siegfried's Rhine Journey3. He judges, however, that Gould fails in Mozart and Beethoven. His staccato "torpedoes" Mozart, as if he feared that one might take pleasure in the note. In his view, Gould's blunder about Mozart, whom he considered a bad musician, comes from his refusal of sensual pleasure45. He comes back several times to an anecdote: Gould found Schubert monotonous until he heard him played by Richter. He then understands that what he called repetition is hypnosis6. Pagani contrasts Gould's playing with Richter's, in a reflection on performers who serve the instrument and those who connect the composer to the listener7. He also credits Gould with the ability to understand his own opposite.

1. 1Musicosophie 14. Mozart derechef7 Feb 2021 · 38:43
2. 2Racine4 Feb 2019 · 50:13
3. 39 #18 Le Crépuscule des dieux ou de la répétition à la libération3 Apr 2021 · 1:16:33
4. 4Musicosophie 14. Mozart derechef7 Feb 2021 · 55:01
5. 5Musicosophie 14. Mozart derechef7 Feb 2021 · 1:20:38
6. 6Musicosophie 3. Qu'appelle-t-on une musique moderne?3 Dec 2020 · 56:18
7. 7Musicosophie 17. L'interprétation25 Mar 2021 · 1:17:43

Summary produced automatically from 10 of the passages below, to be reviewed; the numbers link to the moment in the session.