Customer Reviews

Brahms: 10 Intermezzi for Piano; 4 Ballades

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
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2 star:		(1)
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This album is a delight. Seldom has Brahms, or Glenn Gould, sounded better. The tenderness and understated eloquence with which these pieces are rendered reaffirmed something I had always felt about Gould: that he was not out merely to vindicate an artistic credo, but to make beautiful music. He asserted he had enjoyed an opportunity to play these pieces in an improvisational style. If that's true, he should have improvised a lot more. There is a sweetness, lyricism and quiet romantic quality to these works and Gould brings them off tremendously. I have never heard them played better, more simply and sincerely, utterly free of affectation. There is nothing more lovely and calming than to play this just before going to sleep. (They sound just as good when you're wide awake.) Great as Gould was, this is pure ravishment.

Brahms and Gould -- a surprising but effective match. From a performer most identified with Bach comes a recording that genuinely captures the Romantic expressiveness of Brahms. Although I knew many of these pieces from previous recordings Gould (as always) brings new ideas to the music. Of course, it wouldn't be Gould without the occasional idiosyncrasy -- op.119 no.1 is played ridiculously fast, for example.

These performances are really succesful. Glenn Gould is feel very good the atmosphere of Brahms' music. Still, Glenn Gould is a Canadian pianist as you know, so he has a character of a North World man. And Brahms already is a typic a noble man came from North Europe. So, their character is nearly same and Gould is bringing vert good the Brahms' somewhere heavy, cld and stormy but somewhere lyric and warm passages. Especially in Intermezzos. Gould's another Brahms recording, Piano Quintet with Montreal String Quartet, is very good, also. And the both recordings are highly recommended.

Reading through all the reviews here, I noticed no one specifically refers to the one recording of the Intermezzi and Rhapsodies that to me is an indispensable reference point and to which one will return to again and again for a lifetime to nurture one's heart and soul: Wilhelm Kempff's earlier one from the 1950s on Decca (especially the Op. 116 Fantasias and Op. 117 Intermezzi from 1950).

Having said that, I love Gould and find his Brahms, with the exception of the 1st Piano Concerto elsewhere and the Op. 76 Intermezzo in A major here, very much worth listening to, the Ballades (and among those, the Second that Gould starts off as if awakening from a dream) in particular. They certainly form a worthy alternative to Michelangeli (the 1981 studio recording on DG, or as part of the 1973 Lugano recital on Music & Arts) - that is, assuming you, like me, like listening to alternative versions instead of only one.

If Gould intended the Op. 76 Intermezzo to function as a strategically placed shock effect on this disc, that wears off in no time, and what remains is jarring and honestly confusing - as others have said here, this wonderful piece does not deserve to be treated like this.

Greetings from Switzerland, David.

A pianist who made his mark with spare and precise recordings of Bach, Gould here shows a romantic and passionate side that may surprise many listeners unfamiliar with this regrettably small portion of his discography. Gould himself thought these recordings among his best, and I wouldn't quarrel. Over the years, I've listened to just about every recording of the Intermezzi ever made, and while Gould's has its drawbacks (notably his notorious humming and the now less-than-stellar sound quality) they're still my favorites by a league. The E-flat Intermezzo Op 117, No. 1 and the A-Major, Op. 118, No. 2 are among my favorite recordings of any composer by any artist. Absolute perfection that I can listen to on eternal repeat without tiring. If only Gould had returned to the Intermezzi to take advantage of digital recording technology! The recording of the Ballades, on the other hand, is not only a fine interpretation but also sonically good. The 4th is especially moving.

Gould delivers. He has a right style and attitude to give power to Brahm's late keyboard works. The sound is excellent. I hear every keystroke clearly.If there is humming, which I doubt, it never reaches the listner. This "oldie" will is still solid gold.

The gallant mood, the aristocratic flair, marvelous expressive poetry non romantic and tune's delicacy will surprise you. Gould assumes another idiomatic perspective, and convinces us about his enormous sense of expression and temperament. His astonishing fingering not only gives us another facet around these Brahms works but besides an indication Brahms has been absolutely misunderstood due an awful misconception of his artistic intentions.

One of the most pyramidal musical achievements of Mr. Gould.

I am a Gould fan. I listened and totally enjoy his other performances such as The Goldberg Variations by Bach on DVD repeatedly that the disc wore out and I had to purchase a new one.

Not on this one when Gould plays Brahms. I don't know the reason, but if I do not know it was played by Gould, I would dare to say it was lousy !

Guess Gould does not have the Brahms touch.

The intermezzi by Brahms are such romantic, sad pieces that I also had to buy a second CD but by Helene Grimaud. Grimaud recorded this Opus 116 -119 so beautifully that I cannot stop listening to it repeatedly and ended up with a very scratched CD. I am completely satisfied with Helene's interpretation, so much so to the point that there is no need to buy another version played by anybody else.

Then I was "recommended" by Amazon.com for the Glenn Gould version for a mere $6.82 , Brahms by Gould, such a temptation ! Also for $6.82, and there is no sales tax, no shipping charge, sounds like a bargain.

Wrong! Amazon.com would not sell this CD for such low price, unless the CD is not receiving a warm reception.

For the first time, I could not bear to listen to the entire CD. A few days later, I forced myself to listen to it from the beginning to the last track.

So what do I think ? Even if this was given to me free of charge, I still don't think it is a great one ! For immediate comparison, I changed back to Helene's CD. It was wonderful. I played it twice in order to make up for what I did not like about Gould's CD.

I don't think it was Gould's idea to record this. The whole CD is a mess. His passion is nowhere to be found, and for once, after listening to his interpretation, I consider it to be awkward, his heart is not in it, unlike the second fabulous version(circa 1982) on the superb Goldberg Variations.

Would I recommend this to you ? I don't know you, and I don't hate you, so the answer is a big NO !!!

Don't buy it. Listen to the sample tracks first and then decide if you want to own it. But hey, I am sure there are a couple of guys who have much super intelligence and musical knowledge than we are, will contradict me; because I know NOTHING about music... which is fine. Their passion is to insult other commoners who dare to write on their sacred turf.

But for you, you should trust yourself and your own ears and brain.

No! Even if you are swearing at me, the answer still NO.

Hope you have better luck but be careful !

Have a happy holiday season !