I agree wholeheartedly about Gould's technique (at least in his early years) but whether one appreciates the music he makes will always involve other non-purely

I agree wholeheartedly about Gould's technique (at least in his early years) but whether one appreciates the music he makes will always involve other non-purely-technical criteria. For example, I'd almost always rather listen to Murray Perahia's Goldberg Variations than Gould's. I just love Perahia's sense of musicality and the warmth of it all. Gould's younger Goldbergs are insanely virtuosic/quicksilver but I find myself almost getting beat over the head by it all. In either event, my point about Brendel was more just that he's worth checking out in his own right and not just some dude who wrote a possibly crappy book. And I still love his Schubert Impromptus even if his technique looks lame to more discerning eyes!