Carl Stross

Well done, Sir ! I was waiting for s/body to notice that. Well done.

I like him. Very, VERY talented, very well trained. I think his mother was a professional concert pianist. Sure, he's a bit sloppy here and there but then he's not trying to better Gieseking. Liberace's mannerisms work pretty nicely with his act. Gould's do not work with his act at all. I speculate here but I think sometimes the mannerisms ( which I believe to be substantially intended ) hinder his music making i.e. he changes interpretation to suit the mannerisms. His 5th symph has a lot of moments which musically make full sense if you would listen to his after-moaning....

I wonder how much of his mannerism, chair included, is just acting. About 3/4 I suspect. I can ignore the humming but I can not ignore that the humming is really trivial....

AND he was STELLAR when live as well : ( though he IS irritating the conductor. And who put that woman on the horn ?? )

I did not know that and also, it's not what I meant. I'll take a chance by horribly oversimplifying and I'll say that to my ear he is not musical enough to make the impact he seems to aim for. Look on YT for the D Minor with him and then Lipatti or the Inventions with him and then with Nikolaeva, when you have some time and of course, disposition. But Menuhin, technical stuff aside, is absolutely stellar and he's stellar without effort, affectation or pretense. But check Lipatti's D minor - I'm curious of your opinion. Lipatti was trained at great length by the absolute best and was marinated in a certain kind of disciplined, "serious" classical culture. Gould learned a lot of piano by himself, that's pretty clear to me.

Agree 100%. I must say I don't care much for his opinions on composers and for most of his interpretations but one thing is for sure - he was incredibly talented and he's "convincing". I don't hear enough musical transfiguration to make me think he's a "true genius" but I could well be wrong. Here's an excellent example of his quirky and superb artistry :

It comes across as Brahms and Elgar were superior technically to Tch's compatriots. That's really not the case.... I know nothing about Tch besides some of his music, some of which I like A LOT. I heard he was a homosexual but I find it hard to believe.

"Decoding" classical composers is an at least 200 years old game and the bread and butter pseudo-entertainment of composition professors and certain conductors. And some piano players who should know better. And some composers. I reckon I must've easily clocked 500 hours of listening to this sort of stuff if I include rants on how Beeth blundered orchestration. This one is one is one of the worst I heard. An expert can take the mickey out of Mozart way better than this - this is kindergarten stuff. That M was superficial in many of his compositions is something perfectly known since M's time - really absolutely nothing new. Glenn Gould being the genius he was, I am sure could've done much better but this was probably kept low key for a general kind of public. Many thanks for this video as it contains a very precious ( for me ) insight in Gould's artistry. Many, many thanks !

Quite common : that's because of the way it was ( intentionally ) written. There is somewhere a short version at around 22 minutes, quite effective. I know who did it but can't retrieve the name. Though it is somewhere inside my head. There is also a ( very ) simplified version of the 1st Mov, maybe by Baklanova (?). The nice thing about B's c/to is that it works with diametrically opposed interpretations. A very academic and a free interpretation ( close to "nuts" ) can be equally effective. The concert shines brightest I think, when played with a small, minimalist orchestra and preferable an Opera orchestra. In general Opera orchestras are far more flexible, alive and downright musical compared with Symphs. A good Opera orch is all around a much better organism.

I watched two or three videos from this young gent and he seems competent and the videos are informative. For some unknown ( to me ) reason he is extremely agitated and I suggest some degree of patience - it's worth it :

I see. Then no handlebars ?? Got it.

Forgive me : WHAT were you using motorcycle handlebars for ??? Is it legal ? V/damore approves ??? PM me with more details...

Never you tolerate pro,s looking down at amateurs : they've been badly brought up and need fixin'. I mean, where is their money coming from ?

I was referring to Shostakovici. And "too Russian" is in the main, related to mood. That is why for me he's not an irreplaceable composer. I have troubles uplifting my mood - I can do depression naturally and effortlessly.

Too Russian.