COMPOSERS: Wagner
LABELS: Sony
WORKS: Siegfried Idyll; piano transcriptions
PERFORMER: Glenn Gould (conductor/piano)Members of the Toronto SO
CATALOGUE NO: SMK 52650 ADD (1973/90)
This disc, while not perhaps a Gould essential, helps to portray the sheer range of the man’s genius. You can’t dispute Gould’s ability, if not exactly to emulate an orchestra, then to provide a pretty astonishing substitute in the orchestral transcriptions. Again, as in his Beethoven sonatas, voicing is the key, along with the powerful sense of fully engaged personality. We also get his conducting debut recording – a facet of his work which should surely become better known. Jessica Duchen
Wagner: Siegfried Idyll; piano transcriptions
This disc, while not perhaps a Gould essential, helps to portray the sheer range of the man’s genius. You can’t dispute Gould’s ability, if not exactly to emulate an orchestra, then to provide a pretty astonishing substitute in the orchestral transcriptions. Again, as in his Beethoven sonatas, voicing is the key, along with the powerful sense of fully engaged personality. We also get his conducting debut recording – a facet of his work which should surely become better known. Jessica Duchen
Our rating
4
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:32 pm