(June 9, 2015 at 5:14 pm)Pyrrho Wrote:(June 9, 2015 at 2:09 am)Alex K Wrote: ...
I know Glenn Gould has done many recordings that are considered classics, but I can't quite warm up to him yet...
I have never liked him either. I believe he is a polarizing figure in classical music. I don't like him, and never have. (There seems to me to be a coldness about him, or, in some cases, an inappropriate emotion. Of course, I cannot explain that, so anyone may feel free to ignore the comment entirely.) But many people love him. It is interesting that there are people who are worshiped by some, and hated by others. And other people are more universal in their appeal or lack of appeal.
As a graduate of a Canadian music school, I can say that even in that favorable environment, people felt the same way. Gould has some pieces which are almost universally revered. Some have argued that the Goldberg Variations, for example, simply can't be played better than he played them.
That being said, that deep intellect does sometimes interfere with the more animal instincts that people look for in the Romantics.
