Canadian piano virtuoso and scholar, Glenn Gould’s (1932-1982) reputation exploded world-wide after his 1956 recording of Bach’s “Goldberg Variations” (Disc 1, 13). Gould’s aesthetic mixed percussive patina and highly burnished sound, attempting to draw harpsichord sonorities from the modern keyboard. His tempo choices could be eccentric. The set illustrates Gould’s introspective approach in music from the Renaissance (Gibbons) and Romantics (Brahms, Bizet, Sibelius, Strauss) to early moderns (Scriabin and Prokofiev). In the Bach, Gould omits repeats, so the pieces seem short, energetic and brilliant, marred only by his persistent singing along. Gould amazes with the speed and tonal accuracy of his playing, e.g., the Presto of the “Italian” Concerto or the “Allemande” from Partita No. 1. He defines contrapuntal voices with a piercing clarity, his left and right hands exerting the same ample power. The liner notes draw from his many essays.
Musical intimacy comes forth in Bach’s French Suite No. 2 and Partita No. 1, played to evoke a harpsichord. The Well-Tempered Clavier selections include the most famous Prelude and Fugue (C Major), and a lesser known (F# Minor, Bk II). The first Sinfonia in a minor key assumes a romantic flair, while the second sounds like a miniature toccata. The Menuets from Partita No. 1 have a music-box quality that sounds like a mechanical device with heart. The Toccata in G Minor shows off Gould’s touch in a variety of colors - some quite aggressive - and speeds. On Disc 2, Gould performs music by Bach’s contemporary, Domenico Scarlatti (Band 12), a spirited, jagged, Spanish piece with guitar effects. C.P.E. Bach, one of J.S. Bach’s sons, has a Rondo (Band 4) that sounds much like the Baroque side of Mozart. Haydn (Band 3) is his usual, suavely witty self.
The “Not Bach” disc contains one Gould transcription, Wagner’s “Die Meistersinger” Prelude, which Wagner wrote to prove he could write counterpoint. Here, Gould makes the piano “symphonic.” Bizet’s Nocturne for piano is a rarity. The same contrapuntal energy invests the dark Brahms Rhapsody in B Minor. The largest selection, the last mvmt of Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto with Stokowski, projects a lumbering, muscular grace, with moments of passing eroticism, which Gould makes manifest in Scriabin’s Caresse dansee. Gould’s “transparent” playing qualities mark his “layered” playing of Orlando Gibbons’ “Ground.” The Sibelius Sonatine mvmt has a liquid, hypnotic quality. Another exercise in quick legato, the Strauss Scherzo (Band 9), sounds much like Mendelssohn. A natural encore piece, Mozart’s Rondo Alla Turca (Band 11), receives a perilously slow treatment. The percussive first movement of the Prokofiev 7th Sonata projects the cold, militant affect this “War Sonata” requires.