I’ve said this before, but I honestly think there’s something wrong with him. He goes from sounding near Pogo 2.0 at one concert to Cortot at the next. I’ve never seen anything like it with any other pianist. I don’t think it’s that he’s developed a habit to distort, I think it’s that at most concerts he simply can’t pull himself together to play in a relaxed, natural way. When he does, I agree he is impressive.
I nonetheless couldn’t help laughing at the above, if you know my take on both Gould and Trif. I agree!