What Did I Just Buy??

[DMP]

It's a new release of Glenn Gould's 1955 "Goldberg Variations." A hybrid CD/SACD (with a multi-channel version AND a "binaural stereo" version), it's a "Zenph Re-Performance." Something about software and a new piano. Can anyone tell me about any of this??

[7/4]

I've got a bridge I can sell you...

[Nate Dorward]

They take the old recording, feed it through a computer, & they play it back on a brand-new player piano with sophisticated software that's supposed to replicate all the subtleties of touch & dynamics. So what you have is a brand-new recording that recreates the original Gould performance.

[Guy Berger]

I assume this is intended for people who want a grunt-and-groan-free performance?

Guy

[RDK]

I assume this is intended for people who want a grunt-and-groan-free performance?

Guy

It's like a karaoke track; you can supply your own vocals.

[RDK]

Seriously though: why?

[clifford_thornton]

I wouldn't want sex without grunting and groaning; why would I want music this way?

[Rooster_Ties]

Depends on the music. A Blakey or Jimmy Smith date is one thing...

...but Gould and Jarrett should have learned to stick a sock in it.

TOTAL blasphemy, I realize -- but I'd take the rerecordings via the bastardized computer process over the grunts and mumbles, any day.

But that's just me.

[Claude]

Can anyone tell me about any of this??

Google can

http://zenph.com/sept25.html

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue30/gould.htm

[DMP]

Thanks! I've listened to it this past hour, sounds great. (And, as someone noted above, no humming, for better or worse.) I paid $15 for it, so it wasn't any big investment. The Brooklyn Bridge probably would have cost me more.

[BruceH]

Depends on the music. A Blakey or Jimmy Smith date is one thing...

...but Gould and Jarrett should have learned to stick a sock in it.

TOTAL blasphemy, I realize -- but I'd take the rerecordings via the bastardized computer process over the grunts and mumbles, any day.

But that's just me.

Blasphemy? Not at ALL! Gould's vocalizing drives me nuts. Always has.

[Chuck Nessa]

So, how many generations is this away from the original performance (ignoring the original creation by Bach)?

[Ron S]

Any chance of getting a similar version of just Glenn's vocalizations?

[7/4]

Thanks! I've listened to it this past hour, sounds great. (And, as someone noted above, no humming, for better or worse.) I paid $15 for it, so it wasn't any big investment. The Brooklyn Bridge probably would have cost me more.

I can get you a deal on the Goethals.

[Guy Berger]

I'd be interested in seeing the results of some sort of blind test.

Guy

[Kalo]

Depends on the music. A Blakey or Jimmy Smith date is one thing...

...but Gould and Jarrett should have learned to stick a sock in it.

TOTAL blasphemy, I realize -- but I'd take the rerecordings via the bastardized computer process over the grunts and mumbles, any day.

But that's just me.

Blasphemy? Not at ALL! Gould's vocalizing drives me nuts. Always has.

So that's what drove you nuts.

I always wondered.

[Rooster_Ties]

Any chance of getting a similar version of just Glenn's vocalizations?

Now THAT might actually be interesting.

[mikeweil]

Could be a half-hearted attempt by SONY to revitalize their contributions to the SACD market.

What most people seem to forget is that this is an incomplete performance: To fit on a single LP, Gould (and most other performers) had to leave off quite a number of repeats called for in the score. Same goes for most CD recordings, to play them all you take about 85 - 90 minutes in the correct tempos .......

Edited June 6, 2007 by mikeweil

[Spontooneous]

It's just an attempt to "improve" on the 1955 mono sound. (Remember the "Electronically reprocessed for stereo" version?)

But if I'm in the same room as people who think the 1955 mono sound is a roadblock to their enjoyment, I'll move to another room.

I've heard the Zenph disc. The "re-performance" (who made up THAT word?) didn't creep me out. I'd be interested in hearing Zenph take on, say, Schnabel in Op. 111 or the Schubert D. 960.