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Concert in Bonn - Prokofiev’s Five Melodies and Two violin sonatas, played by Kremer and Argerich: “I didn’t like this at all. But it’s hardly surprising, as these people go out on stage and play without any rehearsal; what can they expect? It’s nothing less than scandalous (especially the violin). I can’t begin to understand how people can adopt this approach to art. The outcome - a tumultuous success.”
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A TV broadcast - Brahms’ Intermezzo Op.119 No.2 played by Ashkenazy: “Total disappointment. Expression = zero. Nothing happens. And this is Volodya Ashkenazy! Is he from another planet?”
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Recording - R. Strauss’ Sinfonia domestica conducted by Karajan: “I’m not entirely sure what Strauss wanted here, but for me this sort of performance of one of my favourite works is simply unacceptable. After all, ‘domestica’ suggests a certain chamber atmosphere, a kind of reserved and agreeable warmth. So what are these exaggerated fortissimos and this misguided monumentality doing here?”
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Recital - solo pieces by Bartok, Brahms and Schubert played by Radu Lupu: “With this pianist, everything is so carefully calculated and weighed up in advance that there’s nothing unexpected or surprising. The meal is served up as though on a large tray, but you know in advance exactly what it’s made up of. And so it was with Schubert’s G major Sonata - irreproachable and level-headed. Such an interpretation doesn’t surprise you in any way, all the notes are perfectly in place. But is the result really interesting? No. It lacks any sort of thrill and leaves the listener (or me, at any rate) cold.”
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Recording - Brahms’ Variations on a Theme by Paganini played by Michelangeli: “I’m currently working on these study-variations and so I listened again to Michelangeli’s recording. And unfortunately (yes, unfortunately) I didn’t find what I was looking for. Everything proved to be a little stilted and superficial, very much in the style of a ‘study’. I fully understand that it’s hard to break away completely from the technical side of this music, but even so one would like a little more distance from it. Of course, it’s easy to say this - and I’ve no wish to criticize a great artist.”
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Recital in Moscow - Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations played by Nikolayeva: “She understands virtually nothing of what she’s playing. Such tempi are harmful to your health; the rest is boring and prosaic.”
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Recital at the Pushkin Museum - Chopin solo pieces played by Murray Perahia: “What happened? A terrible attack of nerves? Lack of confidence in his own abilities? Or circumstances of which I’m unaware (it’s rumoured that an idiotic female interpreter-cum-guide pushed him to the limit)? But the fact remains that this famous pianist played virtually everything badly and that his Chopin left me cold. When I asked him why he didn’t do the repeat of the exposition in the B minor Sonata, he seemed surprised and exclaimed ‘But no one does it’, adding that the same is true of Schubert’s sonatas?!?!? He seemed unhappy.”
Recital in Munich - Scriabin’s and Chopin’s sonatas played by Pogorelich: “Pogorelich, in the flesh. Bizarre, and one doesn’t know why…You have the impression that he doesn’t understand what he’s playing. It’s not affectation, but rather something physical.”
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Recording - Beethoven’s Hammerklavier played by Schnabel: “No, you should never trust metronome markings. As proof, here is Schnabel’s recording of the Hammerklavier: it’s totally unacceptable, absolutely impossible to listen to.”
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Recordings - Bach’s Partitas played by Gould: "Glenn Gould, ‘the greatest intepreter of Bach’. Glenn Gould has found his own approach to Bach and, from this point of view, he deserves his reputation. It seems to me that his principal merit lies on the level of sonority, a sonority that is exactly what suits Bach best. But, in my own view, Bach’s music demands more depth and austerity, whereas with Gould everything is just a little too brilliant and superficial. Above all, however, he doesn’t play all the repeat, and that’s something for which I really can’t forgive him. It suggests that he doesn’t actually love Bach sufficiently.
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Recordings - Chopin’s Studies Op.25 Nos.1 and 5 played by Horowitz: "What can one say against this? Yet there’s nothing that one feels like saying in its favour either. A pianist! Phenomenal fingers…But what about the music?
He’z a real mofo.
