John Grant wrote:

>> Gould's Brahm's Intermezzi are wonderful.

Wes Crone replied:

>I've never heard the performances of the Brahms intermezzi by Gould.
>All I can say is that I have heard more people agree with you than not
>regarding their quality.  I'm not sure exactly what I dislike about the
>Gould performance of the Rhapsodies.  They sound very mechanical like they
>were being churned on a conveyor belt.

Yes, for years I thought of one of his Rhapsody performances as a long
appointment with a dentist's drill.  But his Intermezzi are certainly
worth repeated listenings.  Gould separates the voices into distinct
contrapuntal melody lines and once I heard them that way, few other
performances satisfied me.  This is not to say that his style of playing
them is the one true religion for everybody -- but for me, Brahms AND Bach
fanatic that I am, it works!  Gould satisfies my emotions AND my brain.

Mimi Ezust
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