Search - Johann Sebastian Bach, Glenn Gould :: Bach: Goldberg Variations; Preludes & Fugues

The Best "Gouldberg Variations"?

Charles Merritt | Atlanta, GA USA | 02/09/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"So what did I need with yet another interpretation by Glenn Gould of this work? Yep, I could've lived without it, I guess, but I'm glad I didn't. Despite the sound quality (which, considering the source, isn't really that bad), this performance has become my favorite one over the '55 and '81 versions. It isn't as showy as the '55, nor is it as eccentric as the '81. Gould's playing is technically brilliant here, but not forced in it's display. He is more relaxed and not trying to impress. One gets the idea that he is playing "for himself", and I like that. Gouldomaniacs are probably familiar with this 1954 record, and it would be a good record for those who've never heard this Bach masterpiece. Buy it."

Very fine performance, hideous recording

Christian Ellithorpe | Streamwood, IL United States | 11/04/2002

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Nearly unlistenable. Very fine performance, hideous recording; Zero dynamic range, noise from hall, etc. Either was not remastered properly or the original master tapes were bad to begin with. Not kidding here, but It sounds about as good as a cassette tape recorded on a boom box to me. Sad, because Gould did perform very well."

Mercurial vitality!

Hiram Gomez Pardo | Valencia, Venezuela | 02/07/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"
Gould's Goldberg have developed an autonomous existence. Possibly no other piece of monumental transcendence has penetrated with such vehemence several generations of listeners. Gould emerged from the ashes of the WW2 and somehow, represented the flaming torch of the rebel generation of young musicians. But beneath this myth, there was a profound artist that seemed to understand the status of his genius,

free of conventionalisms who established patterns, his approach about Goldberg were the stuff of myth; but also his personal landmark, a sort of spiritual helmet that allowed him to explore and even to live in this Bach's universe with epic tenacity. He recorded at least I know, five versions, the first one from the files of CBC Broadcast, the second, from 1955, the Goldberg' s Salzburg' s Festival of 1959 and finally his swan song in Bach in 1982.



So, considering the pyramidal importance of these variations one may state they were if I may, his genesis and nemesis. So, under no pretext you should miss this fundamental musical treasure.

"