Is this a record sale?
NewsNo-one disputes the popularity of the Icelandic pianist, but this is approaching rock-star status.
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From my latest monthly essay in The Critic…
When it came out, I streamed Rock Star’s Goldbergs and walked away halfway through them. Never came back for more. Setting aside the likes of Gould, Tureck, Tipo and Gavrilov, I can think of at least five other GVs of current vintage that are superior and more satisfactory/interesting.
I realised how much of a hype job he was when I watched a video of him performing the Grieg Concerto. I think that was the worst performance I have ever listened to.
Tureck? The pianist who once performed before Wanda Landowska and elecited the response, “You play Bach your way and I’ll continue to perform it his way”. Try setting a metronome to her performances, some of the slowest, dullest performances of Bach on record.
https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=14662.0
A while ago the oft-disputed subject of Landowska’s famous quip on playing Bach *see below* came up and I mentioned that somewhere in my archives I had a letter clarifying the subject. I found it finally; it is written by the recently departed Denise Restout, also a harpsichordist and lifelong companion of Landowska’s (after Landowska’s first marriage), and was sent to Clavier magazine and published in Dec. 2002 issue. I quote in full:
“I was present when Wanda Landoswka spoke the famous quip about performing Bach, ‘You play Bach your way, and I play it his way.’ She said this to Pablo Casals, not Rosalyn Tureck, as many believe and was quoted in the October [Clavier] issue. Here is the story.
Casals resided at Prades, Pyrenees Orientales, away from the Spanish government, and came to visit Landowska on June 26, 1941 in Banyuls sur mer, a few miles from where she had lived in St. Leu and left under the threat of Nazi invasion. By that time she had received a Pleyel harpsichord, thanks to a generous loan of money from a student, and housed it in a small ground-floor room, not far from our apartment.
Casals came with his secretary and a couple of friends, Mr and Mrs Alavedra. Wanda played for them, and she and Casals discussed some aspects of Bach interpretation, especially the question of ornamention. Casals asked Wanda why she played the trills starting with the upper note, admitting that he was not certain that it was always the case. Wanda explained her reasons to him, and for further evidence, she asked me to go to the apartment to fetch the original edition of Leopold Mozart’s Violinschule/i], one of the very few precious books we had saved from St. Leu. It has a clear description of the way trills should be realized. Casals listened, looked at the book, but still was not convinced. So, with a smile, Wanda said to him, ‘Let us not fight anymore. Continue to play Bach your way, and I his way.’ They both laughed and went on to discuss other subjects.
Couldn’t disagree more. So there we are.
I don’t agree with everything this guy does, some of the variations are really too fast for my taste (var 1 and 5 in particular) – too much piano playing – but on the other hand they are never mechanical or cold. The repeats always reveal something fresh (at least to my ears), the control of dynamics, rhythm, polyphonic variety and texture is something new in Bach piano playing I feel.
I hadn’t heard Ólafsson live before so I attended his Carnegie concert earlier this month. It was simply an incredible night, I was a bit overwhelmed by the end. Reading the NY Times review, I realized I wasn’t the only one.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/08/arts/music/vikingur-olafsson-goldberg-variations.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
You can certainly disagree with his choices – they are definitely not middle of the road – and he seems to have a lot of support from the (sometimes very annoying) DG marketing machine, but to me it feels very unbalanced to write about someone of that level of musicianship the way you do.
At leat it is better than Gould´s horrible clatter,
I totally disagree. Glenn Gould was a genius. Bach can be interpreted many ways, as he left no specific instructions. This has resulted in a wonderful diversity of interpretations.
He is obviously very special. None of the excellent pianists A.L. mentioned are in his class as a musician, and as an executant his abilities are simply astonishing. Everything I’ve heard so far is convincing, which could certainly never be said of Gould. His Goldbergs are up there with Derzhavina’s.
100 percent agreed.
I hear a robot. If you told me he was the first AI pianist, I wouldn’t dispute you.
There is no doubt that one can claim cult status I suppose, but what if it has been only one thief? That said, he’s a terrific pianist and I hope he gets past Goldberg and starts putting on varied programming.
Am I alone in suspecting that this might be a publicity gimmick?
No, you are not.
For true deep musicality would recommend Beatrice Rana’s “Goldberg”, a jewel.
Rana´s is the best recording of the Goldbergs….But Olafsson is a very good one. Thank good we are past Gould´s horrible clatter, Tureck´s boring 5 shades og grey….
I’d go do Vegas on a bet that: of course it’s a P.R. stunt, in fact a signpost of desperation to sell records.
Who on earth steals CDs in 2024 when you can hear everything for free online?
AI.
I don’t understand why. He’s okay at best. Not a lot of “there” there.
I agree with that and his other albums, about four of which I still have but am getting rid of. Don’t get all the fuss, with him, Grimaud, Trifonov, or Yundi Li or almost all of DG’s pianists today. They go for technical slickness and lack of personality—music you can put on in the background. I miss the days of Cortot, Arrau, Richter, Levy, Roge, Kocsis, et al.
I’m just pleased to see that a real record shop seems to exist!
It must be very embarrassing to buy a Vikingur Olafsson CD to have to resort to such measures.
NOBODY can claim to have cornered the market on the correct way to play Bach’s music. All the afore mentioned artists have studied the music and arrived at their own conclusions. So, identify the artists that you most respect, consider their conclusions, and arrive at your own vision – which may be no more or no less valid than theirs. This was Bach’s intention for future generations – which is why he left us no specific instructions on how to play his music.
Where is this? Any documentation of the source would be highly welcome.