Glenn Gould : Bach: Goldberg Variations

Full title is: Bach: The Goldberg Variations

Featured Performer: Glenn Gould

Length: 51:02

Released: 1982

Booklet: 4 pages

Booklet printed in the following languages: German, English, French

From the All Music Guide:

Fittingly,one of the last works Glenn Gould recorded for Columbia was also the first work he recorded for Columbia : Bach's Goldberg Variations. The 1955 recording made the Canadian's name as a pianist; the 1981 recording, released only shortly before he died, put his name on the tombstone along with the epitaph 'Here Lies A Bach Player.' Between the two recordings, some things remained the same -- Gould's virtuoso technique, staccato touch, clipped rhythms, and disdain for the sustain pedal -- and some things changed enormously. Though the 1981 recording is generally much slower than the 1955 recording, some variations are much faster in the later performance. Though the 1955 recording is more overtly virtuosic, there are some blazingly virtuoso parts of the 1981 recording. And though the 1981 recording is, in Gould's words, suffused by 'a kind of autumnal repose,' the 1955 recording sometimes gets much more emotionally intimate. The biggest difference between the two recordings is the quality of the sound. The 1955 mono recording is clear, bright, and cool; the 1981 digital recording is clean, close, and nearly cold. And, it should be added, Gould's irrepressible vocalizing is far more audible in the 1981 recording. For the Canadian pianist's dedicated fans, there will be no choice but to get both; for most others, sampling both recordings before making a decision is suggested. ~ James Leonard, All Music Guide