Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review
(7 customer reviews) 15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
BETTER SORRY THAN SAFE,
July 30, 2004 Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Great Pianists of the 20th Century - Glenn Gould (Audio CD)
Everything from Gould is an event, of one kind or another. There is a popular representation of him as wilful and perverse, and while I can think of certain performances by him that could be described in that way, in general I find far less eccentricity in his playing than I do in Richter's, and absolutely none on these two discs. To support the stereotype of Gould the liner-note quotes some pompous huffiness and puffiness from Brendel, no less, and while I admire Brendel greatly I couldn't help thinking when I read that their dates of birth were little more than a year and a half apart that one main difference between them was that Brendel was born aged 45.
I would guess that the Mozart fantasia and fugue here will be the performance that most divides opinion. It is stern and forceful, and there is far more of my idea of Mozart in it than in a lot of the bijou tinkling I often hear. There is no Bach at all, and for that relief much thanks. Gould's wonderful Bach-playing is...Read more
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
JACK OF ALL TRADES,
February 23, 2001 kheinkel (New York City) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Great Pianists of the 20th Century - Glenn Gould (Audio CD)
There is, apparently, no end to the argument over which pieces should or should not have been included in this recording. But if one looks strictly at what it actually contains, the album provides a pretty thoughtful representation of Gould's non-Bach output and is an interesting compilation of music in its own right.About half of Disc 1 is devoted to English virginal music by Byrd and Gibbons which Gould identified as some of his favorite music in the keyboard literature. The Scarlatti pieces are full of sparkle and imagination, and suggest that Gould might have become one of the greatest interpreters of Scarlatti's sonatas if only he had recorded more of it. So compelling is his take on the ones in D major and G major that they may never again be equalled. The Mozart Prelude and Fugue in C major is right up Gould's alley, and does quite an admirable job of filling in by proxy for the missing Bach works that previous reviewers lamented. The Haydn sonata that rounds out Disc 1...Read more
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Why not include his best and typical performances?,
March 15, 2000 By A Customer
This review is from: Great Pianists of the 20th Century - Glenn Gould (Audio CD)
Most of you have probably heard of Glenn Gould as the eccentric and brilliant Bach re-vitalizer. A listener typically gets seduced or disgusted by his playing, but never leaves anyone untouched. Recently he was voted among the top ten most influentional classical performers of the 20th century, and his ideas of the performer's role and musical wizardry has always made him very popular among musicians. Many are those pianists of our generation that have Glenn as their absolute idol. Before his landmark record of the Goldbergs Variations in 1955, Bach wasn't really considererd a serious part of the piano repertoire. It is therefore confusing and dissapointing to see that in this series so far none of his more famous interpretations, be it Bach, Beethoven, Brahms or Schoenberg are included on this record! Reading about the recording in the series sampler leaflet lets you believe that contractual quarrel stopped the publication of his most popular works. I guess Sony valued...Read more
