Great wrongheaded recordings

[Mandryka]

Gould's Byrd/Gibbons disc and others by this pianist were mentioned above but one might apply this to almost all of his recordings, or at least the second part because the "great" is more in dispute than the wrongheaded.
I got to know a lot of Bach and some other music via Gould and was sufficiently fascinated that I eventually got most of his recordings but I wonder if I will some day consider most of his stuff as wrongheaded and only very occasionally great.
I listened to a few Beethoven sonatas with Gould but while not uninteresting and pretty good they didn't quite qualify: op.13 is very fast (except for the Grave sections) and dry, op.14/1 similarly, very fast in the outer movements and slowish in the middle, probably the best of the 3 but like op.14/2 that is slow (extremely so in the middle movement, still not unfunny in a dry fashion) neither sufficiently wrongheaded nor great enough.
Then began op.27/1 and this was so bad, I had to turn it off.
Sure, that movement that seems minimalist and improvisatory at the same time might be the most problematic in all published Beethoven sonatas but Gould plays it around half speed, the simple naive melody falls apart, there is no charm, it's a complete disaster, I couldn't listen to more than a few seconds.

I love the op 27/i because it's so funny. Backhaus is better probably, but Gould gets the whacky humour of the music.

[JBS]

My problem with Gould's Beethoven was his vocalizations, which made some of the sonatas totally unlistenable.

[geralmar]

A personal note on Barbirolli's New Philharmonia Mahler 6.  Long ago I experimented with pseudo-four channel sound by hooking up the two rear speakers out of phase with the two front speakers. Late one night I decided to listen to the Barbirroli 2-L.P. EMI set.  Everything was fine until midway through the first movement I noticed an odd, persistent, rhythmic "chuffing" sound in the rear speakers.  After intense listening to the sound for several moments, it suddenly dawned on me that the rear speakers had extracted the heavy, labored breathing of man, long dead, and now gasping for breath behind me.  Unnerved, I switched off the stereo, deciding to finish listening to the recording during daylight.  (Several reviewers had, indeed, commented on the microphones picking up Barbirroli's struggling for breath.)

[NumberSix]

A personal note on Barbirolli's New Philharmonia Mahler 6.  Long ago I experimented with pseudo-four channel sound by hooking up the two rear speakers out of phase with the two front speakers. Late one night I decided to listen to the Barbirroli 2-L.P. EMI set.  Everything was fine until midway through the first movement I noticed an odd, persistent, rhythmic "chuffing" sound in the rear speakers.  After intense listening to the sound for several moments, it suddenly dawned on me that the rear speakers had extracted the heavy, labored breathing of man, long dead, and now gasping for breath behind me.  Unnerved, I switched off the stereo, deciding to finish listening to the recording during daylight.  (Several reviewers had, indeed, commented on the microphones picking up Barbirroli's struggling for breath.)

Creepy! 

[Leo K.]

I would have to nominate Klemperer's Mahler 7, that slow granitic 7th is almost conceptual art, like no other Mahler 7 to my ears. I still revisit it sometimes although it's not a favorite.

[San Antone]

For me one of the most wrong-headed recordings is Bernstein's DG recording of West Side Story, starring José Carreras (as Tony) and Kiri Te Kanawa (Maria). Kanawa is not the problem.  What was Lenny thinking having Tony sung with a Spanish accent and a singer incapable of singing the jazzy syncopation of the music?

[NumberSix]

For me one of the most wrong-headed recordings is Bernstein's DG recording of West Side Story, starring José Carreras (as Tony) and Kiri Te Kanawa (Maria). Kanawa is not the problem.  What was Lenny thinking having Tony sung with a Spanish accent and a singer incapable of singing the jazzy syncopation of the music?

But for all that, you find this one to be accidentally great?

[Roasted Swan]

For me one of the most wrong-headed recordings is Bernstein's DG recording of West Side Story, starring José Carreras (as Tony) and Kiri Te Kanawa (Maria). Kanawa is not the problem.  What was Lenny thinking having Tony sung with a Spanish accent and a singer incapable of singing the jazzy syncopation of the music?

Completely agree - I can only think that in his own head having "big operatic" names singing somehow legitimised the work.  Not that it ever needed or needs anything except celebrating as a work of genius.  The original cast recording - for me - is still the best.  The sheer adrenalin of discovery burns through every bar (from memory I think it was recorded right after the orginal Broadway Opening Night) - now that's a 1st night I'd loved to have been at......

[Roasted Swan]

But for all that, you find this one to be accidentally great?

Ah - I see you are right in terms of the original OP for this thread.  I was going down the "its just wrong" path!

[NumberSix]

Ah - I see you are right in terms of the original OP for this thread.  I was going down the "its just wrong" path!