Customer Reviews

The Gould Variations: The Best of Glenn Gould's Bach

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The "best of Glenn Gould's Bach" is a strange subtitle for a strange sampler. Coming several years after the Sony re-issues of remastered Gould recordings, this collection seems either belated or superfluous. Arguably, the selections don't even represent highlights from the corpi Gould tackled over the years. A disproportionate amount of space is given to relative obscurities, e.g. Aria Variata for keyboard ("in the Italian style"). Surely a legitimate "best of" would include a few more preludes/fugues from the Well-Tempered Clavier? Also, the pace of the music over the length of the first disc is almost relentlessly brisk, like a treasury of vintage Dixieland piano rolls. The second disc is interesting as it includes 1 entire LP - Gould's performance on organ of 9 fugues from The Art of Fugue - plus videos of Gould performing fugues on piano. Consequently, while this set is not truly a "best of," it's a valuable collection of oddities and rarities and a worthwhile investment.

As you know the excel passion of Gould for Bach 's music accompanied him along his lifetime. He not only rediscovered a new approach around Bach 's playing but besides he notably contributed to spread the taste for the Academic music all over the world. He represented the irreverent musician per excellence but his absolute domain of the musical socre, his absolute control and senes of every little bar made of him a must reference at the moment to establish fundamental parameters. He broke paradigms and gave back the music a renovated splendor.

Since his awful vanishing in 1982, a whole generation of new listeners, his name has become as cult pattern. So that is the mainreason to acquire this album, becuase it contains the minimum facets in the intrepretative art of the musician of musicians: Johann Sebastian Bach.

Genius of the highest order! What can I say about Gould and his playing that hasn't already been said. He is a musical gift for the ages. Of all the recordings placed on the Voyager, this is the one I'd be most proud to have an extraterrestrial society find--even they would have to wonder at it. I love the story told of one of Gould first concerts in Moscow. No one there really knew him. It was advertised as a Bach program which brought little excitement and the attendance was quite sparse as Glenn took the stage. However, as he began to play, jaw after jaw began to drop! The story goes that many got up out of there seats and headed for the exit...no not what your thinking...and ran, not walked, to every available phone booth (the 50's no texting) to call friends and anyone else to get down to the music hall immediately!! By the second half of the concert the Hall was packed to the rafters!! That says it all. His music (especially the Goldberg's) still has that impact today.

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! Heard this, believe it or not on the new version of The Day the Earth Stood Still and wondered what the lovely music was, did a little research and found this. Great piano and very relaxing. Since I purchased this album, about a year ago now, I learned much more about Glen Gould, and what a fantastic artist he was. He was a world famous pianist when I was very young and I had never heard of him. I saw a PBS program on him and it was a very interesting biography. How sad he died so young, at 50 of a stroke.

If you like Bach and Gould, this is a great CD to start out on, it covers a large variety of recordings by Glenn Gould, and is a great introduction to Bach. Overall this CD is a wonderful sampler, it'll make you want to go out and buy all of his Bach CD's. You wont regret buying this CD, it's something to cherish for years.

this collection is a sampling of glenn gould's bach recordings, relying heavily on his 1955 edition of the goldberg variations and keeping in total the art of the fugue which gould recorded on organ. i would recommend the complete editions of each recording sampled here, but for an introduction to mr. gould and for a nice selection of bach piano, this album suffices.

As a doctor and Pianist player, Glen Gould and Albert Schweitzer represent 2 of the most atractive players in the nonortodox world of music. I own the compleete sony cathalog of Glen Gould recordings,Glenn Gould: The Complete Original Jacket Collection - Amazon.com Exclusive I love the 80 records in these collection. But I also have this double cd, and I enjoy it. The first record with 73 minutes of sonatas, fugas, variations, Italian suite. and in the begining and at the end, The Area of the Goldberg Variations. the begining is the first CBS recording, the end is his second recording. All the record has the tendency of happy and fast beat, and of course there is not the BEST of gould. But something is atractive in this collection, In my office This is by far the most beloved record in the back music of the waiting room, ant there is not week in that at least 3-5 times the patients ask for it. By chance I have 3 years playing it and still the most beloved.
the second CD a 30 minutes of organ is just beautiful interpretation of the art of fuga, the CD-room compliment is OK.
Fast and happy collection of pieces, This CS is exellent if you are a beginner or a non fan of the clsical music.