Customer Reviews

Bach: Goldberg Variations

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

A spirited, irreverant recording that turned the world on its ear back in 1955. Comparisons to his 1981 recording notwithstanding, this is an extraordinary performance with considerable historical value.

However, it was given a 20-bit remaster in 1992 and re-released as "Glenn Gould Edition - Bach: Goldberg Variations" (Sony Catalog #52594). The remastered version has noticably clearer sound and more music: two fugues from 'The Well-Tempered Clavier' are thrown in as a bonus.

If sound quality is important to you, the remastered version is worth the extra 5 bucks.

I'm hardly a Bach affcionado although I've always enjoyed listening to his works in my life along with other composers. When I accidentally watched video clips of Glenn Gould's performance of Goldberg variations for the first time, It made me curiously emotional like no other. Words are inadequate to describe the child-like feeling after I listend to the first few variations. I walked over to my young sleepy cat and kissed his nose... That is what this particular recording made me do. Not everyone need to talk about classical music like a wine connoisseur. I feel lucky to have found this simple, yet sublime sound by this truly gifted pianist.

It is hard to underestimate this breakthrough recording by young Glenn Gould. At a time when Bach was very serious music, when few even wanted to touch his keyboard works, Gould started a storm of change with this recording. Just listening to pre-Gould recordings of Goldberg Variations, or even any Bach keyboard work, played with harpsichord or piano, and you'll find how presemptious and, in fact, a bit boring, Bach indeed could sound. People might argue that Gould more sounds like Gould than Bach, but is that really an issue? Even Bach, in good baroque tradition, was a well-known improvisor and imitator that changed his style frequently as demanded by his temper and audience. The key here is to move people with Bachs intentions, not to plainly copy. In fact, I like when I can hear who is playing, it adds personality and blood, especialy in the case of Mr Gould's tour de force and exquisite, almost hyphnotic tempi effects and phrasing. OK, I won't get deeper into that discussion. Gould died too young, and so far no one of the some 75 recoridings has surpassed him on the Goldbergs, my opinion. BUY THIS RECORD AND HIS 1981 VERSION. If you're a real buff, try his 1954 CBC and 1959 Salzburg live recordings as well.

At the top of the top. I listen to this one and to the 1981 as well. You probably need them both. Please do not forget the Salzbourg recital in 1959. It' is live. This is still Gould but more 'urgently' played and this time .. played for a public !

Giving this CD only four stars was a tough decision to make. The album offers perhaps the best piano playing that I've ever heard. Gould's technical ability and speed are astounding, bringing to life Bach's incredible Goldberg Variations as no other pianist can. If my rating were based soley on performance quality, this CD would undoubtedly deserve five stars; unfortunately, the fact is that the recording was made in 1955, and even though it has been remastered, there is still a very noticable tape hiss. Also, Gould's famous humming/mumbling can be heard in some of the tracks, seriously detracting from what otherwise would be a perfect listening experience. Still, the playing is so marvelous that despite the noticable flaws, the album overall get's a strong four stars.

this will be mildly fragmented, so i beg your indulgence

as a musician, i'm one of those that can analyze every chord of this work; do schenkerian analyses until i'm blue in the fingertips; etc. etc. etc. and still never articulate the connection to an indefinable aspect of the human spirit that music has (corny, i know, but true)

yes, gould's interpretation is on a piano - if that bothers you, buy this and ton koopman's interpretation on clavichord (wonderful, and much much different)

yes, gould's tempi are highly unorthodox

yes, he sings and there is a hiss on the recording

but

if there's ever a reason i got into all this in the first place, it's due to the sheer joy like no other that one can experience in making music - very few recordings capture that, and this is on the top of that list (along with solti's recording of figaro). so what if gould isn't "historically informed?"

i'd like to remind my fellow juilliard colleague (who was pretentious enough to put juilliard as their address - we're not impressed) - that it is this sort of spirit that connects with an audience, that connects within us as people. gould's interpretation is certainly as valid as any performance practice version (and i would point out that many conductors and performers justify ridiculous interpretations as "informed perfrormance practice). what else are we doing this for? recently, michael tilson thomas stated in an interview that "we cannot afford any more casual performances" - this recording is one of the most committed performances i've ever heard...it is pure electricity - the closest one can get to the energy of creation - and certainly has withstood the test of time. i know that i still get chills every time i hear it.

gould has taken bach and created his own towering masterpiece - the art of interpretation - along side the art of creation...

and i can't help but feel that bach would have liked it...

Fans of Gould's well-known final recording of Bach's Goldberg variations will find many of the same qualities in this 1950s recording: clear counterpoint, decisive articulation, and much of the same ornamentation. But where the later recording reaches beauty and inner reflection, this early recording is lightning quick and wild. In several variations, the tempi are so fast that they come off as pianistic gestures. This recording is a special find which belongs in the collection of any Bach lover.

Oh the miraculous humming of Glenn Gould! You must have heard this particular recording to say you have lived. To Not have heard it is like Not having Ever witnessed a sunset.

Gould channels J.S.Bach like no other performer, providing the listener a chance at looking clearly into the mind of not just one genius, but two. The recording quality is so real and warm that you feel as if you are sitting next to Gould on the piano bench. You could hear a pin drop.

If you crave intimate, serious moments with a sensitve and brilliant artist who plays just for you, this is your disc. Devise your own theory on why he hums...

This is one of those interpretations that raises the most different opinions..... But you can be certain that the only way to discover it, is listening ! The sound quality is not perfect, some coughs and the eternal "umhmh" from Gould himself ! But that should not be a problem if you are realy interested in one of the most important compositions ever ! Even the "purists" should agree that this interpretation (and not the other one from Gould, from his late period) is a real milestone in the gramophone industry.

To call this recording explosive is still to understate its impact in 1955. It is still, for many, the defining recording of both the Goldberg Variations and of Glenn Gould's genius. This music simply was NOT performed in 1955 and certainly not with such brilliant virtuosity. And, don't forget, Gould's style was considered very dry and rigorous when it came on the scene.

Now that nearly everyone has been influenced by him his playing seems almost normal, but it isn't. His is a very special kind of genius. Whether you agree with him or not, Gould has a power that has to be acknowledged. That he still has power to disturb and influence is a testiment to his greatness.

It is also good to compare this first recording with Gould's later recordings of this work. You will hear a vast difference between them. They are all special and legitimate, but this was the first.

Oh, and the singing on the tracks was GOULD singing, if you didn't know. That was another of his special traits.