[lit-ideas] Kempff and Completeness
- From: Eric Yost <eyost1132@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2006 12:39:49 -0400
>>Wilhelm Kempff
Yeah Kempff has one of the most superb Beethoven sets. He
recorded the complete cycle at different times, so some of
the recordings are not stellar, and have bad sound, but most
of the 32 are highly regarded by the critics.
Which made me think about complete sets of works by a
composer. Some great pianists never recorded complete sets
of anything. Sviatoslav Richter probably has the most
powerful recording of Appassionata and maybe the greatest
recordings of the Tempest and the Hammerklavier--yet he
never recorded complete sets of anyone--not even Prokofiev,
of whom he was an early champion and exponent.
Richter never recorded some pieces because he maintained
that he "could not feel the music," and if he couldn't feel
it, he wasn't going to play it. Other players like Kempff or
Gieseking or Pollini seem to be able to play and "feel"
everything.
The artistic question is what is the value of a complete set
of __________ by a performer? Is there something about the
mindset of a "complete set" player that privileges them
above the "pick and choose" performer?
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