Customer Reviews

The Face of America: Chilly Genius. Twenty-six-year-old Glenn Gould is, in his fashion, an eccentric. He is also a genius. Music critics place him in the top rank of concert pianists, and his eccentricities are plain for all to see, as in this close-up of Gould rehearsing a Bach piano concerto with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. To get his nose close to the keyboard, Gould has his piano up on blocks and uses a lowered chair. The chair legs end in screwjacks, which he adjusts and readjusts between solo passages. The Ford Auditoreum is so warm that conductor Paul Paray has shucked his coat, but Canadian-born Gould is padded against a lifelong chill. His muffler, sweater and heavy jacket, the rug under his feet, the glass of warm mineral water on the piano - all year-round equipment. He soaks his hands in hot water before playing, wears gloves and a cap between takes, and needs an overcoat even in summer. Presumably it all helps; that music is glorious. Photograph by Ormond Gigli. ..... 1959 Saturday Evening Post Picture, A5229A. 19590404