johanibraaten nice. But I don't agree about not having the repetitions (maybe the Count would not have fallen asleep without them).
The ‘repetitions’ were meant to put the Count to sleep, and only if one intends for an entire audience to fall asleep, one should avoid them! 😁
Of course, you’ll always have some romantic dude claiming that the rep’s are there for a reason other than the one described above, but I know the composer intimately, and he, himself, is baffled by all the B.S. theories around taking the rep’s, “perhaps I should’ve made it clear that these are only meant as a sleeping aid,” he once said to me!
Of course, the most prominent B.S. theory is that the rep’s allow for the pianist to “say something different” the second time around, but the truth is that those taking the rep’s aren’t saying anything new, other than adding some ornaments, so you see, the real reason for some pianists to take the rep’s is more vague: to differentiate themselves from “the lazy” non-repeaters, like Glenn, who most certainly got the memo: “don’t take the repeats, I beg thee!”
I believe Glenn repeats a little section of “a” variation in his 1981 recording, but don’t quote me on that, for you see, as much as the experts claim the 1981 recording better, I’m still a sucker for the version that floored me: 1955!
That being said, Zhu is okay, and I forgive her for the rep’s; although I must say, I did feel a little sleepy towards the end…..😉
