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GG...and that harpsichord
Bradley Lehman wrote: Re GG's Handel suites on the harpsichord):
Well, that Wittmayer he used was not a good harpsichord to begin with. Its
tone is profoundly uninteresting....
Then he also used the buff stop very extensively.
That buff stop is the "rubbery" effect you're referring to.
It really does make that Wittmayer sound as if the strings are made of
rubber rather than metal.
.......
How can I put all this in a positive light, GG being our hero and
all? 'Cause it's hard to put into polite words how horrible that *@#*&@#%
unlistenable record sounds, and the problem is not in the
engineering. Let's just say that his use of that Wittmayer gives
his>Handel recording an intriguingly neutral tone color, and this lets us
focus>on his interpretive ideas rather than the sound of the instrument.
That record is maybe what GG's thoughts sound like in battleship grey >(his
favorite color).
Oh dear....Can I now horrify everyone and say that I actually enjoy
listening to this particular recording? (well, occasionally!)
Yes, I have heard these criticisms before, and I must admit that when I
first heard the CD I thought it was far and away one of the wierdest
"harpsichord" recordings I had ever heard (I actually thought that the
'rubbery' sound you describe didn't sound like a harpsichord at all). But
then...I began to enjoy it. Yup, its certainly not one of Goulds greater
efforts in the recording studio. But he sounds as if he"s having fun... not
to mention making a (metaphorical) rude gesture in the direction of those
critics that he was usually pleased to ignore.
The recording makes me smile even if I can't take it seriously.
OK, I am no scholar, nor do I claim any great musical expertise. Bradley,
you are no doubt tearing your hair with despair that an f_minor subscriber
is so hopelessly uncritical. I will go and sit in a corner and cover my head
with my hands in shame while everyone yells abuse at me.
I expect this has probably been asked before (that is, before I subscribed
to F_minor): What other Gould recordings do people actually like, even
though they reduced the critics to stunned disbelief?
Best wishes to all
Kate
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