- Audio CD (25 Oct 1990)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Label: Sony
- ASIN: B0000025PM
- Other Editions: Audio CD | Audio Cassette | MP3 Download
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 402,101 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
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Product Description
From Amazon.com
The clear-cut rhythms, riveting articulation, and contrapuntal acumen of Glenn Gould's 1955 debut Goldberg Variations characterize this 1981 remake to strikingly different results. This later version is more deliberate in pacing, stark in expression, thoughtful with ornamentation, and tightly organized (if a mite theatrical) in terms of tempo relationships. Whereas there are no repeats from 1955, Gould now observes "A" section repeats in the canons, the Fughetta, and other fugue-like variations. The rapid, cross- handed sequences still dazzle with pinpointed fingerwork, yet the slower tempos better serve the music's dance-like qualities. Unlike Sony Classical's better sounding Glenn Gould Edition transfer, the original CBS Masterworks CD still has no banding cues. --Jed Distler
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio Cassette
Every time I listen to this recording, it never fails to fill me with a sense of awe, and I can not help thinking that the fate had ordained that the recording itself became the concluding aria to his short yet fulfilled life. It will remain as the pinnacle of art of piano playing as long as mankind lives on this planet.
Gavrilov tried to out do this performance (in fact he plays some variations even faster), but does not come even close in terms of technical ease and the transcendental quality of the music making. I will strongly recommend the DVD of this amazing recording too. This performance must be watched as well as listened to, to be fully appreciated - Glenn Gould: The Goldberg Variations [1981] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Gavrilov tried to out do this performance (in fact he plays some variations even faster), but does not come even close in terms of technical ease and the transcendental quality of the music making. I will strongly recommend the DVD of this amazing recording too. This performance must be watched as well as listened to, to be fully appreciated - Glenn Gould: The Goldberg Variations [1981] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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87 reviews
63 of 63 people found the following review helpful
The Stuff of Genius
22 Dec 2001
Format:Audio CD
Glenn Gould had recorded two Goldbergs prior to this release: a digital effort from 1955 and a live Salzburg performance in 1959. Both are stunning, bursting with wit and vivacity - but there is something about his testamentary final version (finished just before his premature death, aged 50) that defeats not only his own efforts but those of every other pianist too. Gould himself was an odd fish, to say the least - he never slept (the Goldbergs were written by Bach for the insomniac Goldberg), ate little and was a chronic hypochondriac. Admirable was his love for animals - he had many dogs throughout his life - and his love of solitude (he conducted almost every relationship through the telephone). Such qualities are very important when considering the unmeasurable profundity of this recording - the love of innocence, the aversion to brutality, the childike playfulness are coloured by a deathly weariness and stoicism (hence the beautiful final aria, transcendentally slow, or the tired stubborness of number 1). This is one of those recordings that demands endless relistening - one discovers new things every time amidst the mass of detail and complexity (the diversity of articulation in number 25, the so-called 'black pearl' variation is a good example). His tone is otherwordly, sometimes akin to the sound of a xylophone, sometimes an organ - the glittering textures of Variation 6 or 13 are wondrous. Bach purists will perhaps hate this disc, but wrongly - it is a marvellous realisation of the score combined with a highly original personal vision. Brendel chides Gould for his Bach playing, on the grounds that he fails to bring out the composer's intentions. Well, listen to Brendel's feeble recording of the first two books of Liszt Annees de Pelerinage - as far from the pyrotechnics and thunderous sonorities of the score as one could possibly imagine. Take no notice of these critics - this is surely one of the finest recordings in the entire catalogue, a true marvel of human achievment. It is complex, beautiful and relentlessly profound.
34 of 34 people found the following review helpful
Glenn Gould's finest recording
7 Jun 2000
Format:Audio CD
Glenn Gould is without a doubt one of the finest pianist of our time, though he was certainly excentric. This second recording of his of the Goldberg Variations by Johann Sebastian Bach, is his finest work in my opinion.
One thing that is distinctive of Glenn Gould, is the way he manages to play very fast, yet we can still clearly hear every single note. This is apparent in some of the variations here that are played very (too?) fast. But what I thought was extermely good in this recording, is the way Glenn Gould can be soft and touching at times, and hard and fast at other times. We are given the impression that Glenn Gould is telling us a story. The result is very satisfying.
But be warned. This is not Bach as it was intented to be. Lets forget that this is played on a piano for a minute. Glenn Gould's interpretation of the Goldberg Variations can shock some purists. First, like I said before, it is played extremely fast at times. I doubt this is what Bach had in mind. Also, Glenn Gould has this bad habit of putting stacattos everywhere. This is not as annoying as it can be in his interpretation of Bach's Well Tempered Clavier, but still.
Also, another warning for those who do not know of this pianist. Glenn Gould used to sing when he was playing. Not to loud. Just a little hum. But you can hear him on his recordings. If I recall well, he insisted his voice was left on the recordings, because he thought that removing his voice would hurt the quality of the recording.
So anyway, this is still my favourite interpretation of Bach's Goldberg Variations on piano. And it must be the most popular interpretation out there. I still prefer Kenneth Gilbert on the harpsicord, but it is definitely a must-buy if you ask me.
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Slower, But Nicer
27 Aug 2000
Format:Audio CD
My discovery of Glenn Gould was a bit later, and much more irregular, than most classical music listeners. I was curious as to what could motivate Dr. Lechter, and his creator Thomas Harris, to such devotion.
The first purchased was the Sony 1955 edition, and I listened to it constantly while reading, working on the computer, or even taking a nap.
A few months later I ordered the 1982 recording and was astonished at the difference. The later recording had a much slower pace and seemed much more reflective to my un-tutored ear. I was so surprised I went out and purchased two other recordings: one by Chen Pi-hsien, on piano; and Anthony Newman, on harpsichord. There is a strange difference in the Pi-hsien recording to my un-educated ear; as if she doesn't strike the keys with the same power, and sharpness as Gould. The Newman quickly becomes boring due to the inflexability of that instument, though I presume it is closer to the original clavier for which the Variations were written.
Over the last year or so, I have given both Gould versions to friends, as well as bullying others to purchase it.
Try to listen to both variations of Gould's Goldberg Variations, and see which you prefer. While first impressions may remain strongest, and I still prefer Gould to others, I found a slightly more pleasant shift in timing in the later version.
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