The 12 Most Perverse Performers (Worth Listening To)

Comments · 161

• CU

  @Cultuurgoed · 4 months ago

  I saw Pogorelic multiple times. His first concerts (after he didn't win the Chopin competition in Warsaw)  were astonishing. Casually dressed, walking excruciatingly slow towards the piano,  he was absolutely captivating in how he played the pieces. Later his interpretations became more an " just for the sake of doing it differently " sort of thing.

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• MI

  @mikesmovingimages · 5 months ago

  This was a fun episode, Dave. I appreciate so much your ability to consider music and performances from a variety of perspectives.

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• JA

  @JacobSmullyan · 1 year ago

  Gulda is another! A free spirit. Also, lesser known, but prolific on disk, the  extraordinary Andrew Rangell.

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• PE

  @petroslinardos · 9 months ago

  I had the privilege of twice hearing Pogorelich live during the mid-80s.  To my ears he sounded very eccentric, occasionally out-of-his-mind, but mostly irresistible. His sound was mesmerizing but wasn’t captured in the recordings. For me Pogorelich live in the 80s was a vastly different experience than his recordings from the same period—unquestionably his peak.

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• RA

  @rapnet5535 · 1 year ago

  I would add Mikhail Pletnev (in his pianist role).  His unique interpretations almost always work.

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• SL

  @sleepjar7013 · 1 year ago

  Celi conducts one of my favorite versions of Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe Suite<br>No. 2, and I love Pogo’s Pictures At An Exhibition.

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• MA

  @mattbalfe2983 · 1 year ago (edited)

  Maria Yudina is on my personal list. Her relationship with Stalin and USSR censorship certainly adds a layer. I also put Horowitz in this category, though maybe he&apos;s not quite perverse enough.

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• TI

  @TichmanClassCologne · 10 months ago

  Ugorski passed sway a while ago. Unfortunately so did his daughter Dina, who was a marvelous artist.

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• TO

  @tom6693 · 1 year ago

  I&apos;d add Svetlanov, but particularly in his little-known piano recordings of certain Chopin Nocturnes and Etudes. &nbsp;I think I recall Dave referring to some of his orchestral performances as examples of sweating, panting, over-the-top emotionalism. &nbsp;Well, the same might be said of his keyboard Chopin. &nbsp;Slower tempi, breath-taking rubato, brazen separation of hands, bold underlinings, wide dynamic range--the whole echt-romantic expressive arsenal deployed throughout. &nbsp;But here&apos;s the thing: &nbsp;it can all &nbsp;nevertheless be damn gorgeous and completely convincing. &nbsp;Once you&apos;ve heard the way he etches the aching melodic line of the Op 25 #7 &quot;Cello&quot; Etude you can&apos;t forget it, and you almost feel like through his excesses he&apos;s broken through to the real sentiment behind the notes. &nbsp;The same goes for his Nocturne Op 48 #1, where the last section&apos;s &quot;doppio movimento&quot; marking he takes to mean not twice the speed but more like half, which results in an amazingly built-up grandeur that&apos;s positively thrilling to hear. &nbsp;Probably perverse, but I somehow wouldn&apos;t be without it. &nbsp;Just as I wouldn&apos;t be without a handful of Turek&apos;s Bach, Pogorelich&apos;s Chopin, or Cziffra&apos;s Liszt recordings.

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• MA

  @martinhaub6828 · 1 year ago

  Herman Scherchen needs a biography. As a kid I bought a lot of his recordings because they were cheap and easy to get - on the Westminster label. I imprinted on that Mahler 7th he made and I&apos;m sure it corrupted my mind as to what Mahler should sound like. I still rank his Gliere 3rd at the top of the pile despite the mono sound and scrappy playing. It&apos;s too bad he never had a first-class orchestra of his own.

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• KE

  @KellySedinger · 1 year ago

  Ahhhh, Celibidache...how many times I&apos;ve found his performances, on YouTube and elsewhere...and there he is, turning in a 65 minute recording of some work no other conductor has ever taken more than 50 minutes to play....

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• RI

  @Richard-b5r9v · 1 year ago

  Gergiov conducting with a toothpick comes to mind

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