70th Anniversary [Import]

1. Soviet Army Song - Les Choeurs de l'Armée Rouge

2. Song About Russia - Les Choeurs de l'Armée Rouge,

3. Sacred War - Les Choeurs de l'Armée Rouge

4. In the Forest After the Battle - The Red Army Chorus

5. Kalinka - The Red Army Chorus

6. Chorus of Soldiers {From the Opera "Decembrists"} - The Red Army Chorus

7. Cliff - The Red Army Chorus,

8. Hey, Cabman, Don't Ride the Horses Hard - The Red Army Chorus,

9. Granada - The Red Army Chorus,

10. Nessun Dorma {From the Opera "Turandot"} - The Red Army Chorus,

11. Dark Girl - The Red Army Chorus,

12. On the Road (A Soldier's Song) - The Red Army Chorus

13. Soldiers Marched in the Steppe - The Red Army Chorus

14. Farewell of Slavianka - The Red Army Chorus

15. Soviet National Anthem [*] - The Red Army Chorus

16. Soviet National Anthem [*] - The Red Army Chorus

70th Anniversary,Red Army Chorus,Import [Generic],Choral,Int'l & World Music,Nationalist,Pop,Russia / Eastern Europe,Russian,World Music

Average customer rating: Genius at work Gould's Most Errant Interpretation THE VERY SOUL OF MUSIC Worth getting for Contrapunctus XIV, but for full performance look elsewhere The Best Bach Interpreter of the Century

Art of the Fugue - 70th Anniversary Edition Glenn Gould , and Bach Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music $9.99 and Under | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music All Classical Music Blowout | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music Instrumental | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music Classical Instrumental Music | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: A State of Wonder: The Complete Goldberg Variations (1955 & 1981) French Suites - 70th Anniversary Edition The Glenn Gould Edition - Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I The Glenn Gould Edition - Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II Partitas 1 2 & 3 - 70th Anniversary Edition ASIN: B00006FI8C Release Date: 2002-09-03

Customer Reviews:

Genius at work.......2007-08-04

It was not until recently thay I new of Glenn Gould I am sorry to say.I saw his trip to Russia and what the Russians thought of him.I have never heard anyone play like him!Every month I add something more to my collection!Since I am retired I spend a great deal of time in my workshop and listen to Glenn all day as I work.It seems like the notes from his playing just fill the room.His work is not boring by any means!

Gould's Most Errant Interpretation.......2007-02-13

Mr. Khekoyan, who reviews this disk below, is quite correct that it is errant in tempi and in percussive interpretation. I'm not in agreement with him about Glenn Gould's stature as the foremost interpreter of Bach of the century. I'd suggest listening to the performance of Menno van Delft, which is included in the Bach Edition complete works produced by Brilliant Classics. There are any number of people who might nominate Gustav Leonhardt, Trevor Pinnock, or Bob van Asperen as more insightful interpreters of Bach than Glenn Gould. Don't let Gould's curious cult status mislead you; his performances are more quirky than competent.
Or, if you are attracted to the Art of Fugue rather than the Artist, you might listen to the performance of the Amsterdam Loeki Stardust Quartet, also available on CD. Though there is no historical justification for playing Bach's harpsichord music on recorders, the LSQ makes fine and insightful music on their wooden flutes, large and small. At times they sound more organistic than Mr. Gould on his modern behemoth.

THE VERY SOUL OF MUSIC.......2006-09-08

What you will find on this disc is A) contrapunctus I-IX played on two different organs in 1962; B) contrapunctus I II & IV from a1981 TV broadcast; C) contrapunctus IX XI & XIII in mono from a radio broadcast in 1967; D) the unfinished contrapunctus XIV from what may or may not be the same TV broadcast as B); and as a final filler E) a prelude and fugue on the name BACH from a studio recording in 1980. Items B)-E) are given on the piano.

Gould's organ renderings ran into critical flak at the time, and whether for that reason or because organ-playing aggravated a shoulder condition that the maestro suffered from he never completed the project. The sound of the piano is a little below standard in C), with some background hiss and a slightly emaciated tone, but even it is not really bad, B) and D) are better, and E) better still sound-wise. The sound of the organs has been criticised, but I do not criticise it and indeed it suits me very well. Nothing in the sound-quality from start to finish interferes in any way with my appreciation of Gould's wonderful, visionary and unique Bach-playing.

This disc does not offer you the complete Art of Fugue, so anyone who wants what's here is going to want it for something special in the performance. Gould is always special I guess, but not special in ways that suit everyone. My feeling is that if you are of the school that wants the Art of Fugue played `expressively' you can probably leave this offering alone. Once Gould sets a tempo he sticks to it unflinchingly without rubato, and except for some build-up in the tone as D) progresses there is a very restricted range of dynamics within each piece, although the individual pieces are strongly contrasted in respect of both volume-level and pace. Interestingly, in those numbers which he gives in two different performances, he takes a markedly different approach each time. Conrapunctus II IV and IX are very much faster in the piano version than on the organ, but contrapunctus I on the piano is taken very slowly indeed, lasting nearly twice as long as in the organ account. It is a matter of one's own concept of the work basically. For me, the Art of Fugue is the ultimate in abstract `absolute' music. It is a monument of remote sublimity like pure mathematics or like the stars in the sky, and it is just there for us to wonder at and does not reach out to us or `express' anything. The player's task is to convey its grandeur, and for me Gould does that as no other version, (on any instruments whatsoever - Bach specifies none) has ever done for me, and I feel this most acutely in his much-criticised organ renderings. The organs he uses are not giants, and there is only limited use of the pedals. He uses mainly a detached fingering, although embracing a more legato style in contrapunctus VI. However it stands to reason that the parts in long sustained notes do not admit of the detached treatment, and I love Gould's selection of strongly contrasted stops to assist clarity further. These are the means he adopts. What these means are in furtherance of is an impression of utter grandeur in the sublime march of Bach's polyphony. It is even a privilege to be shown how this grandeur can be viewed from startlingly different angles in his alternative interpretations of 4 of the fugues.

The last fugue from the Art, the unfinished contrapunctus XIV, is taken at a very slow pace and ends abruptly where the dying composer left it. In the normal way of things I detest this procedure - whatever Bach intended it wasn't that, and in a composition that is the ne plus ultra of method many competent musicians have supplied conclusions that must, in the very nature of the case, approximate to what Bach himself would have done. However this was a television performance, and I gather that the camera was made to freeze at this point with Gould's right hand poised dramatically in mid-air. Gould, who kicked Ravel's piano transcription of La Valse into touch and wrote his own, is having none of that when it comes to Bach, and under the circumstances I stifle my own normal reaction to this abrupt hiatus.

One of the most extraordinary things about Bach is how popular he manages to be for all his seeming severity. The Art of Fugue is innocent of the lyricism that was also part of Bach's infinite musical gift, it makes no compromises with us, but I would say to newcomers to the work that Gould's accounts, partial as they are, would be the best place to start to know this unique and towering masterpiece. It is not any indivisible entity in any case. Better, to start with, to hear some of it presented like this than the entire set in many another, perhaps indeed in any other, version.

Worth getting for Contrapunctus XIV, but for full performance look elsewhere.......2005-08-07

This is a partial performance on organ paired with a partial performance on piano. I didn't care too much for the organ (although Gould's very "un-organistic" articulation does work with these pieces, I miss the unique expression of his piano playing). Some of the piano recordings sound like somebody surreptitiously taped them on a concealed tape recorder.

If you want a complete Art of Fugue on piano that's as close to Gould as it gets, go with Tatiana Nikolayeva's stellar 2 CD-recording on Hyperion (CDA66631/2). I have 9 AoF performances in my collection (piano, organ, string quartet, Hermann Scherchen's orchestral arrangement), and Nikolayeva's set is my favorite by far. (It also includes the two Ricercars from The Musical Offering BWV1079 and the four Duets BWV 802-805, originally for organ.)

However, if you're as much of a Bach nut as I am, the Gould CD is worth getting just for Gould's incredible performance of Contrapunctus XIV (the final unfinished fugue).

The Best Bach Interpreter of the Century.......2003-11-29

I absolutely love all the works played by Glenn Gould. Why 3 stars then? For a long time I have loved every work that Gould brought to life and I still absolutely love them. However, "The Art of the Fugue" really made me see some of Glenn's dark side. The flaw is that his high speeds have absolutely no excuse on this marvelous piece of creation. It is true that Gould is the best pianist when it comes to playing Bach, but to understand what I mean, go and listen to Contrapunctus IV by some other performer who plays it much slower than Glenn. I personally recommend especially the trumpet version. It will blow your mind and convince you that Gould's performance of this piece was really hiding its magnificent beauty and drama. It is simply not possible to express something so breathtakingly dramatic by playing it staccato and also too fast. Have you ever seen someone who had a great loss crying by short stops and very fast? I don't suppose so. And the comparison is very fair because all the instruments, especially the piano, were created to resemble the human voice. `Art of the Fugue' is nothing like the Goldberg Variations where Gould's touch made the music beautiful, especially the first slow movement (which he actually plays very slowly and hence compensates for the staccato). It is much more dramatic and the performer's first goal must be to convey the drama to the listener.

Who am I to judge Glenn? I just have had the privilege to listen closely to titans like S. Richter, E. Gilels, A. Rubinstein, A.Schnabel, S. Rachmaninoff, V. Horowitz, and many others. Not to mention that so far I have listened to the complete works of over 40 composers. Again, Glenn Gould plays beautifully, especially Bach's faster pieces, where even Emil Gilels and Sviatoslav Richter can't do such a precise and concise interpretation. But we must remember that Glenn is a great pianist, but a pianist that can't even match with the Genius of Johann Sebastian Bach (I have heard Glenn's compositions). It is ironic that listeners give so much credit to Gould that they absolutely forget that the only reason that he is able to play such beautiful pieces is because Bach has created them in the first place! With this in mind, we still can accept new ways of interpretation of Bach, BUT NOT TO THE POINT THAT IT DECREASES THE INTRINSIC VALUE OF BACH'S COMPOSITIONS. Glenn does not do this often, but it is shocking that he chose to show his over-interpretation on a work that is considered to be the most important one in the entire classical repertoire. If Glenn was made to play these pieces by his contractors then the flaws can be partially forgiven.

It all comes down to this: this work should by no means put Gould's abilities in question, since he is indeed the best Bach interpreter of this century. However, one must not be blinded and be focused on any singular performer for the interpretation of all the pieces in the classical repertoire - Gould might outdo Horowitz in performing the `Emperor Concerto' (Beethoven) and Gilels in playing Bach's `French Suites', but when it comes to pieces like Beethoven's "The Tempest," his staccato is not in its right medium and becomes a cat's play compared to the powerful fingers of Richter.
(I have heard over one hundred pieces by Gould and could barely notice his humming. Why? Because I hum with him! So please do not complain since a real classical listener should not even notice the humming. Imagine listening to someone talking and at the same time listening to Bach. As far as I am concerned, you shouldn't even be able to notice that that person even exists)

Average customer rating: So many insights realy, really fast Controversial, yet unsurpassed Worth Owning Excellent!

French Suites - 70th Anniversary Edition Glenn Gould , and Bach Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music $7.99 and Under | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music All Classical Music Blowout | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music Instrumental | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music Classical Instrumental Music | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: Art of the Fugue - 70th Anniversary Edition English Suites 1 2 & 3 - 70th Anniversary Edition Partitas 1 2 & 3 - 70th Anniversary Edition Partitas 4 5 & 6 - 70th Anniversary Edition A State of Wonder: The Complete Goldberg Variations (1955 & 1981) ASIN: B00006FI81 Release Date: 2002-09-03

Customer Reviews:

So many insights.......2007-07-11

Of all the many French Suite recordings I've heard, in spite of its eccentricities, this is the recording I return to, because every time I hear it, I hear something new and fresh. It has everything - and no other recorded-performer comes anywhere near such understanding, enthusiasm and dancing-qualities.

realy, really fast.......2007-02-09

Glenn Gould bach is really irregular. I love the three goldbergs (1954, 1981, an live recording in Salzburg), but these French suites are really, very fast, in the first minutes the music sound lively, and pretty, but almost an hour of staccato fast music, It's really like a ta ta ta ta ta ta ta sound.

I much more prefer gould playing bach's fugues, he use to be more slow

Controversial, yet unsurpassed.......2006-08-03

Gould was a character, in every sense of the word. Reading his numerous articles, one is inspired and challenged by his complex and elegant thought... His music, especially his Bach interpretations, have been criticized and praised alike, by people who know eons more about Music Theory than I do.

I can, however, share with you my intense appreciation of these suites. This is absolutely the work of a genius. His rendering of Bach's music for keyboard is utterly original, superbly balanced, deliciously nuanced, and stand alone as an untouched benchmark.

Listen carefully to his wise melancholy in the First Suite, especially the 2 menuettos. This is an interpretation which would astonish Bach himself, I am sure. No other performer will give you what you will hear in (at least) these specific two movements: such living beauty, such exquisite heartbreak... vibrant and fragile, an absolute joy.

Worth Owning.......2005-11-15

I listen to this CD all the time. There is a simplicity and clarity to it that just puts my mind at ease. At times a bit frenetic, but always precise and of an even temper. Very much recommended.

Excellent!.......2005-05-18

I am becoming a huge Glenn Gould fan. I first heard him about 15 years ago from a recording from my father. Listening to the Bach "French Suites" is an amazing experience. It is interesting to do some googling to learn more about Gould the man as well.

Average customer rating: Glen Gould at his best Shallow and mechanical ABSOLUTELY BREATHTAKING!!

Partitas 4 5 & 6 - 70th Anniversary Edition Glenn Gould , and Bach Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music Classical Instrumental Music | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: Partitas 1 2 & 3 - 70th Anniversary Edition French Suites - 70th Anniversary Edition English Suites 1 2 & 3 - 70th Anniversary Edition English Suites 4 5 & 6 - 70th Anniversary Edition Art of the Fugue - 70th Anniversary Edition ASIN: B00006FIAR Release Date: 2002-09-03

Customer Reviews:

Glen Gould at his best.......2007-03-09

A compelling, even thrilling, performance. Satisfying in technical execution and sound engineering.Worthy of listening to over and over again.

Shallow and mechanical.......2006-09-14

Well, where do I start?

First thing I noticed about some of these recordings is a few arrangements sound a bit shallow and thin. Upon reading the liner notes, my observations were confirmed when I read that Glenn modifies his piano to play more responsively. He does this by "fixing the action - so that it is a shallower and more responsive action than the standard".

For the faster ones, this lends itself in some cases, and in others, you would expect more feeling in the music. "Partita IV - Gigue" is one of my favorite Bach arrangements...but it sounds almost like a completely different song to me when Gould plays it....so fast and mechanical, void of human emotion or feeling. I was a little let down by that aspect. Respectively though, he does play them flawlessly...and amazingly fast!

Something else that I've noticed, is that in many, if not all, of the recordings, you can hear someone humming along with the music. Sometimes it's faint, sometimes it's obvious. I don't know if it's Glenn, or a conductor, or the producer, or what...but it can be distracting. But ala 1950's recording I suppose.

Regarding the recording, most songs have a nice stereo spread...but some are monophonic, so when listening in headphones, you notice the inconsistency.

Sorry if I'm offending any Gould fans out there, but this review would have been helpful for me, if such a review existed and I do hope this review will be helpful to someone out there looking for recordings of their favorite Partitas.

ABSOLUTELY BREATHTAKING!!.......2006-05-16

The apogee of this recording is the toccata in e--the first movement of the e minor Partita, S. 830.

This is one of the first recordings GG made for Columbia--immediately after the Goldberg Variations in 1955, and made the same year.

Bach's "toccatas" contained three to five episodes generally following this formula: i) the toccata, proper; ii) an adagio or arietta section; iii) a fugue.

Bach's toccata in e consists of i) toccata, introduction; ii) fugue/aria; iii) toccata, conclusion.

GG was an odd bird: at heart, an ardent Romanticist; on the surface, a sleek Modernist. He does something remarkable with this piece: he infuses an ardently subjective Romanticism with an hard-edged Modernism, turning this antiquated Baroque piece inside out: he makes the upward rushing thrust of the toccata into a pain-filled cry, and the fugue into a studied glacier. With his uncanny timing, GG stretches the piece out to nearly 10 mins: the ending, when the aria theme returns to conjoin the toccata recapitulation--with Gould's exquisite timing and incredible manual dexterity--is absolutely breathtaking. This is incredible art.

Average customer rating: A pleasure to listen to

Partitas 1 2 & 3 - 70th Anniversary Edition Glenn Gould , and Bach Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music Classical Instrumental Music | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: Partitas 4 5 & 6 - 70th Anniversary Edition French Suites - 70th Anniversary Edition Art of the Fugue - 70th Anniversary Edition English Suites 1 2 & 3 - 70th Anniversary Edition English Suites 4 5 & 6 - 70th Anniversary Edition ASIN: B00006FIAO Release Date: 2002-09-03

Customer Reviews:

A pleasure to listen to.......2007-07-28

Great joy to listen to, as all others by him playing Bach. Ive listened to this a million times and it is as exciting and illuminating as the first time.

Average customer rating: AS USUAL Perfect Performances!

English Suites 1 2 & 3 - 70th Anniversary Edition Glenn Gould , and Bach Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Classical Instrumental Music | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Sony | Computers Brands | Computers Features | Electronics | Desktops | Monitors | Networking | Notebooks Similar Items: English Suites 4 5 & 6 - 70th Anniversary Edition French Suites - 70th Anniversary Edition Partitas 4 5 & 6 - 70th Anniversary Edition Partitas 1 2 & 3 - 70th Anniversary Edition Art of the Fugue - 70th Anniversary Edition ASIN: B00006FI7E Release Date: 2002-09-03

Customer Reviews:

AS USUAL.......2007-02-15

My collection of Gould's Bach must be somewhere near complete by now, and my satisfaction at that is going to be tinged with regret when there is no more of it to discover. Through a fluke of the postal system I obtained the second disc of the English suites before this one arrived, and greatly as I enjoyed the other disc I'd say this one is even better. The first 3 suites are comparatively long. Numbers 2 and 3 have 7 movements each, and no 1 has no fewer than 10, so the disc provides quite good value in that sense, although quantity is not what I judge value by in a case like this.

The recordings here were done during 1973, 1971 and 1974 respectively in a studio specially provided for Gould inside a department store in Toronto. As with the second disc, recorded over part of the same period, the tone is very clear but just slightly hard. This is a good fault when the player is Gould and the music is Bach, but the English suites would not be the first things I would think of if I wanted to demonstrate the particular greatness of Gould's Bach to a newcomer. In general Gould does not go in for extreme tempi this time, but the sarabande in no 3 is definitely slow and the final gigue of no 2 barrels along at a speed that recalls some of his more startling exhibitions of velocity elsewhere. As on the second disc, the detached fingering is relieved here and there with a more legato effect and even (I think) a touch of sustaining pedal at times. There is also, in the first gavotte of no 3, a pleasant pastiche-harpsichord effect, suggesting a slightly choked-sounding stop that he obviously liked, to judge by the Handel suites that he recorded on that instrument. At the very start, and again a little later, the maestro is slightly vocal, not something that bothers me in the least.

The liner note is the same as on the second disc, with some very interesting remarks, partly from this garrulous virtuoso himself, on how he went about his recording sessions. There is nothing about the music as such, so in case it needs saying perhaps I should explain that 'agrements' in the sarabandes of nos 2 and 3 does not mean what it means in Debussy's etude with that title, but simply signifies 'ornaments'.

Unless I'm mistaken, the two discs of the English suites are available together as a single set. If that offers a price advantage it's what I'd suggest you go for. What I don't suggest is doing without either of them.

Perfect Performances!.......2004-11-15

In these recordings, as is custom with his Bach, Gould attains a clarity and preciseness that border on perfection. The Preludes are played with vigor and perpetual momentum (see No. 2); the Sarabandes reflect Gould's great touch and emotion. As a musician, I hold this recording of the English Suites as a timeless reference--as an appreciator of Bach, I hold these interpretations as most truthful to the composer's intentions. I recommend this recording (along with vol. 2) as a cornerstone in anyone's Bach collection.

Average customer rating: These historic recordings are excellent even by today's sound standards. This is the perfect Glenn Gould sampler. THE ONE AND ONLY Gould en équilibre...

Piano Ctos 1 4 & 5 - 70th Anniversary Edition Glenn Gould , and Bach Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Classical Instrumental Music | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: Bach: Keyboard Concertos, Vol. 2 English Suites 1 2 & 3 - 70th Anniversary Edition Partitas 1 2 & 3 - 70th Anniversary Edition Partitas 4 5 & 6 - 70th Anniversary Edition English Suites 4 5 & 6 - 70th Anniversary Edition ASIN: B00006FI8L Release Date: 2002-09-03

Customer Reviews:

These historic recordings are excellent even by today's sound standards........2005-12-20

Glenn Gould recorded the first of three concertos in 1957 with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra with Leonard Bernstein conducting. Then in 1959 he recorded the 4th and 5th concertos, again with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra but with Vladimir Golschmann conducting.

The CD starts with the Concerto Number 1 for Piano and Orchestra in D Minor and even though it was recorded in 1957 it will emerge from your speakers like an overpowering invasion of harmony and complexity.

The first movement is extremely dramatic, building tension from the first notes, not as a tension between the piano and orchestra as some piano concertos are based, but rather on an internal searching tension expressed through the keyboard. The piece offers initial simplicity in early passages, but these quickly build to amazing complexity as canon after canon of variations layer one upon each other, never seeking a resolution, so that the listener's tension and expectation builds. He offers simple scales that quickly become any thing but simple and flow like wave after wave of pattern. It is in the middle of the first movement however that an amazing thing happens - Bach slows the tempo and reduces the piece to single notes of the piano that begin to verge on the atonal, stripping for only a few seconds the Baroque and revealing the minimal. Even in the first of a series of concertos he does not play safe, he pushes the limits. The first movement is wonderfully complimented and resolved in the second and third movements. In the third movement he returns to the atonal passage of the first movement and resolves it completely for the ear of the listener.

The Concerto Number 4 for piano and orchestra in A Major as well as the Concerto Number 5 for piano and orchestra in F Minor are both beautiful, less dramatic and more light than the Concerto Number 1.

Concerto Number 4 for piano and orchestra is very courtly with less dominance by the piano over the violins that you hear in Concerto Number 1. In the Concerto Number 1 the piano plays with the orchestra continually, completely integrated with it. The other two concertos also appear to be composed so that the keyboard is not isolated but integrated fully into all passages. In Concerto Number 4, the Larghetto middle movement, softens with the complimentary strings but the keyboard retains its independence and range.

Concerto Number 5 for piano and orchestra has a second passage, the Largo, that appears on many "Best of Bach" type CDs. Here it is rewarding to hear the Largo integrated between the first movement "Allegro" and the third movement "Presto".

These piano recordings require precise articulation on the keyboard and Glenn Gould certainly delivers that in these recordings.

This is the perfect Glenn Gould sampler. .......2005-05-31

From the drama of the D Minor concerto to the songfulness of the A Major and the Machiavellian intrigue of the F Minor, Gould's technical clarity and articulation are consistently phenomenal, the music flows smoothly under his fingertips; his eloquence and lack of idiosyncrasy make his these performances among his most approachable and listener-friendly. Yes, there is Gould's trademark vocalize, most notably in the slow movement of the A Major, but it's a small price to pay for such wonderful performances, not only from Gould but also from the Columbia Symphony Orchestra - in this case, a pick-up ensemble consistently mainly of players from the New York Philharmonic. They, along with Gould and conductors Leonard Bernstein and Vladimir Golschmann, take a chamber music approach, and the resulting interplay between soloist and various members of the orchestra - made all the clearer with Sony's excellent remastering - adds to the joy of the overall proceedings.

Sony has wisely upped the ante by adding two of Gould's finest solo Bach recordings. The 1959 performance of the Italian Concerto is the fleeter-fingered of his two traversals, and it is good to hear the "Concerto after Marcello" paired with it instead of Gould's lumpy remake. The Italian Concerto radiates the same ecstasy in playing that infused the three concertos preceding it - two fireballs of extreme dynamism framing a hushed central movement that keeps you at the edge of your chair with its rapt intensity. The "Concerto after Marcello" adds wit and, again, intrigue to this heady mix and shows there were still moments, even in the year before his untimely death, that Gould did not take himself as ponderously serious as was his wont. This, not the final version of the Goldberg Variations, is Gould's most fitting memorial.

THE ONE AND ONLY.......2004-12-27

This disc does not amount to much in terms of playing-time, and the recorded balance is a little unfair to the orchestra, but I can still give it 5 stars at a bargain price. Sviatoslav Richter apparently said that in these performances the youthful Gould was not yet fully inside his own distinctive style. Maybe so, but the fact remains that Gould did more than everyone else combined to restore Bach-playing on the piano to respectability after the over-long ascendancy of the purist school who refused to admit that as even legitimate. Instruments exist for music, not music for instruments, so far as I'm concerned. Moreover Gould was, purely as a player, an out-and-out phenomenon, one that surpassed even Richter in my own opinion. He was a perfectionist to rival Michelangeli, though of course nothing like him in sound, and on this disc you will hear his trademark pearly evenness in the runs and passage-work and that amazing cut-diamond brilliance in the ornamentation. I think I know what Richter meant, but I would ascribe part of the cause at least to the recording, which highlights the solo unduly at the expense of the orchestra.

These three concertos were recorded over the same two days in 1957, with the orchestra under two different conductors for reasons not stated. I wonder whether Gould subsequently got to know the performance, from 1964, of the 5th Brandenburg with Serkin at the piano and his Marlboro festival orchestra conducted by no less than Casals. This has now been reissued on the Sony label, and anyone looking for a model of how to do a Bach concerto with a big piano solo need look no further. Richter himself regretted not being able to take up Serkin's invitation to join the festival, and we will now never now know what might have come out of such a collaboration. At least two of the concertos are Bach's own arrangements of works for other instruments, not that one would ever realise.

The liner note makes rather a meal of Gould's misgivings about the concerto form in general, and Gould has only himself to blame for this by talking too much, as he was always prone to doing. Despite that, it is still illuminating in a rather Teutonic way, and of course I am always glad to get any more of Gould's wonderful Bach-playing that I can find.

Gould en équilibre..........2004-03-17

L'équilibre même de toute l'affaire interprétative des Concerti de Bach réside dans ce dangereux rapport entre deux pans sonores, savoir : d'une part,la masse orchestrale d'une densité contrapunctique rare,comme toujours, d'autre part la voix isolée du soliste... Des glissements innombrables ont donné des résultats catastrophiques quant à la gestion de ce rapport-là, rapport pourtant essentiel entre pluralité et unité... Or, notre vieil "anachorète des studios" - Glenn, 25 ans à l'époque - et Vladimir Golschmann au fait de sa maturité -64 ans -, tous deux nous donnent une leçon de maîtrise inégalée à ce jour...et voilà le principal inconvénient tout enregistrement !!...en effet, tous mes voeux à qui voudra s'attaquer à ces Concerti-là désormais !
Gould n'est pas encore DANS son style, il ne l'a pas trouvé (selon le mot de Richter) mais il soutient bien son rôle dans le rapport évoqué plus haut, il apporte le relief...Golschmann, lui, apporte la sérénité d'une vision comme panoramique... L'andante du dernier Concerto - le Sol mineur- étant sans doute, à cet égard, le sommet de ce que l'on pourrait nommer "l'art de l'équilibre ", lequel, semblable à ces grands mobiles de Kalder, frémit au moindre souffle, se balance, semble vouloir se décrocher, se déformer mais revient finalement, toujours identique à lui-même...pour l'éternité d'un temps.

Jan Leontsky, compositeur

Average customer rating: MONUMENT MORE LASTING THAN BRONZE Wonderful Recording!

English Suites 4 5 & 6 - 70th Anniversary Edition Glenn Gould , and Bach Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Classical Instrumental Music | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: English Suites 1 2 & 3 - 70th Anniversary Edition French Suites - 70th Anniversary Edition Partitas 4 5 & 6 - 70th Anniversary Edition Partitas 1 2 & 3 - 70th Anniversary Edition Art of the Fugue - 70th Anniversary Edition ASIN: B00006FI7Z Release Date: 2002-09-03

Customer Reviews:

MONUMENT MORE LASTING THAN BRONZE.......2007-02-01

Forget bronze - all of Gould's Bach-playing that I have yet heard (probably most of it by now) is gold-medal stuff for me. However two thousand years ago another bachelor, Horace, was emboldened to claim permanence for what he left to us, and I don't feel it's unreasonable or presumptuous to claim it for Gould as well. In his own way Gould created a new epoch. He fought and buried the myth that the keyboard masterpieces of Bach could be properly represented in performance only on the instruments available to the master before the piano was invented. He reminded us of what we should never have allowed ourselves to lose sight of, namely that instruments are there for music and not music for instruments. Above all, he embodied the great and prevalent truth that the music of one genius is best heard through the medium of another.

This set of the final three English suites was recorded in the 1970's when Gould was in his 40's. The very interesting liner-note gives us some insight into how Gould went about his recording sessions. He would do a variety of takes of certain movements, and his interpretations would sometimes be startlingly different from one take to the next. If you know his disc of part of The Art of Fugue this will not surprise you, as it presents certain contrapuncti in alternative readings, made not far apart in time, that are as unlike as chalk and cheese. Gould himself, and most commentators since, made a great song and dance about the two different readings he offered of the Goldberg variations over a time-interval of 26 years, and while the difference undoubtedly reflected changes in his thinking and philosophy to a great extent, what I read here suggests to me that genius of this order is not necessarily a matter of one single view even at one point in time. Here he has had to settle for one way of playing each given piece. I would give a lot to have heard some of his other ideas, but I am only too grateful for what he decided on.

The playing here is of Gould's usual kind, the touch generally non-legato but with a few slight concessions to legato and even a hint of sustaining pedal here and there. Also as usual, there is very little rubato, and a tempo once set is adhered to rigidly except for a slight easing in the final phrase of a movement. No startling speeds, particularly no amazingly fast ones, are adopted this time. The recorded sound, while satisfactory in the basic respect of preserving the player's clarity of touch, is not actually the best I know among Gould's recordings. It is slightly hard, and does not do full justice to the pearly quality of the runs such as we hear in his set of Haydn sonatas, although it emphasises the cut-diamond brilliance of his trills and other ornaments; and that, after gold and bronze, exhausts my stock of metaphors from jewellery and sculpture.

There is nothing about the music in the liner-note, which is probably no great loss considering what we are often offered in that respect. There is a certain amount about the man himself, some of it from the man himself who, whatever his reclusiveness in many ways, was nothing if not talkative. Whether he suffered from agoraphobia or whether he was just naturally shy I can't tell. What should be more important to us now that he is gone is that he came to have such a liking for recording. This particular disc is not the first I would think of if I had to introduce some newcomer to Gould, but I am only too glad to own it as another ornament on his monument.

Wonderful Recording!.......2006-08-24

Gould's music is so beautifully crisp and clean that it's always an amazement, but this recording makes you feel that he's in the room with you! This 1974 recording was released in 1977 and remastered in 20-bit technology in 2001 for Sony Classical. Crystal-clear recording--Enjoy every minute of it!

Average customer rating: FOR THE FAITHFUL Expect excellence, Get genius Performance versus Technology benchmark for the initiated This is just great music greatly interpreted

Inventions & Sinfonias - 70th Anniversary Edition Glenn Gould , and Bach Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Classical Instrumental Music | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Sony | Computers Brands | Computers Features | Electronics | Desktops | Monitors | Networking | Notebooks Similar Items: French Suites - 70th Anniversary Edition Art of the Fugue - 70th Anniversary Edition A State of Wonder: The Complete Goldberg Variations (1955 & 1981) Partitas 1 2 & 3 - 70th Anniversary Edition Partitas 4 5 & 6 - 70th Anniversary Edition ASIN: B00006FI9S Release Date: 2002-09-03

Customer Reviews:

FOR THE FAITHFUL.......2006-08-20

To get the terminology clear - the 3-part Bach `Inventions' also go by the name of `Sinfonias'. There are 15 2-part and 15 3-part Inventions, and on this disc they are presented grouped in pairs by key, one of each type per pair.

The liner-note makes rather a song and dance of its own about the piano used for the recordings. It apparently suffered certain vicissitudes in the course of being transported around north America, and the first attempts at using it for recording these works had to be abandoned. With patience and perseverance they all got it back into an acceptable condition, and Gould himself contributes a commentary on the matter. He points out certain shortcomings in the sound of the instrument which have then been acutely perceived by others although not so much by myself even after being told about them. The only objective fault I find is a curious subdued `tick', and I can only say that after a lifetime of putting up with far worse on LP this minor blemish gives me no problem whatsoever. As often there is some background vocalising by the maestro himself. This is quiet, it is only intermittent, it is at least tuneful and I am accustomed to it from Gould, and again I simply could not care less. What I would say is that I like the sound of the instrument in general rather less than on some of Gould's other recordings, and that is a perception of my own and not something I have been told to look for, but once again it bothers me very little indeed.

The playing itself is exactly as one would expect it to be. The touch is non-legato, the precision of the fingerwork is phenomenal, little or no use is made of the pedals, there is comparatively little in the way of dynamic variation but there are enormous contrasts in the speeds adopted. This is Gould as we know him and either love him or do not love him. Myself, I find him a prodigy of the first magnitude, and in Bach he has never done any wrong from my point of view. You will not be amazed to be told that I recommend this disc wholeheartedly despite any minor reservations, and I have done what I can to make it clear what I consider recommendable and why.

Expect excellence, Get genius.......2006-07-04

I have to smile at the constant complaints over Gould's many eccentricities, especially in this recording of Bach. If one puts on their memory cap, it is Bach who was the iconoclast of his day, the one who went to jail rather than conform, the one who established modern music with his advocacy of a "well-tempered" instrument. (One wonders what he would think of the incredible Symphonic organs that transformed composition and performance so drastically.)

I simply choose to ignore (or smile at) the occasional hum. When we deal with people we deal with their falacies. Good art is not sterile but (I prefer to think) important, creative and more than anything, human. I am not sure if Gould was not slyly trying to tick off the critics with some of his antics. After the Goldberg I was expecting big things from this album and I was not disappointed. Gould has an inimitable manner in which he seems to imbue each note with his entire being, with all the artistry that he possesses. He excells at structure and has the ability to rework the architecture of a piece (think of his Brahms), maintaining the form while emphasizing a phrase here, a pause there, bringing out an internal melody not apparent in other hands, pouring his soul into each note. He becomes his music as few artists are able to do.

The Inventions were sheer prefection and the 3-parts were even better. It goes without saying that the tone of the instrument was superb. Even after only a few seconds, one easily detects that Gould "touch" - the purity of tone, the clarity of note, the almost imagined hesitancy in the performance as if the artists were still searching for the best presentation. My grade: A

Performance versus Technology.......2005-06-25

One can tolerate Glen Gould's grunting and groaning throughout, as his interpretation of the Bach inventions is outstanding. However, despite Sony's reputation the recording is flawed. The first track (Invention 1 in C major) has a "tic-tic-tic" for the first few bars that is unacceptable. Amazon very kindly replaced the disc free of all charges, including freight, but the replacement had the same flaw. I noticed that the disc played OK on my computer so I tried burning a copy. Lo, it was fine on my hi-fi gear so that solved the problem. But take care; why should we have to go to the trouble to make allowances to fix a technical fault when we are paying good money for a faultless one?

benchmark for the initiated.......2005-06-05

I first heard the Bach Inventions/Sinfonias in a performance by Andras Schiff, which is a terrific album in its own way, should you happen upon it. But nothing could have prepared me for the shock that the Gould performance is. Yet time and repeated listening has made this my own personal favorite performance, as it is one of the most original musical utterances anyone could find anywhere.

For the uninitiated Gould listener, this album is eyebrow-raising. Some might even find it vulgar and off-putting. There's many obstacles in the way: the piano in this recording has serious malfunction, with a pronounced "hiccup" heard in the low-middle range. You'll also have to contend with Gould's creaking, noisy chair, which sometimes makes it sound as if this album were recorded in front of a large bonfire. Then there's the oft-mentioned Gould vocalise, which is more audible than ever here. The tempos are almost bi-polar in nature; either excruciatingly slow or hyper-fast, with not too much gray area in between. If that proves anything, it's that Gould had an almost superhuman technique which allowed him to play clean at extremely fast tempos, and with a profound emotional depth at slower tempos. No one can play as well at slow tempos as Gould does.

It has gotten to the point where I don't even have to make any attempt to block out these extraneous sounds. It's all part of what is, in summation, one of the most highly original and musical Bach albums ever issued.

This is just great music greatly interpreted.......2005-01-22

I remember what film made me look into classical music and what made my life different. It was the film "A CLockwork Orange". I remember hearing all the Beethoven sections and saying "Hey classical music is cool!!" I found this album in a similar manner. Instead of hearing this music in a film I read about it in Thomas Harris' novel "The Silence of the Lambs". Oh yes the film references the aria from the Goldberg Variations but not only is Glenn Gould's name left out of the film but also another famous piece of work that Dr. Hannibal loved dearly. The two and three part invention by Glenn Gould. Hannibal Lecter asks for this very piece of music specifically while he is hiding away in a fancy hotel. Well I ran out and purchased this recording and all I have to say is that this is probably a better overall set of music that the Goldbergs as far as I'm concerned. There's a playfulness and longing here that Gould absolutely nails. And yes his piano in this recording is indeed defective. Some of the notes "stick" occasionally. I'll honestly tell you that this sticky and awkward piano sound SOMEHOW matches the music and is quite fun to listen to. Don't hesitate to buy this great album.

Average customer rating:

70th Anniversary Manufacturer: Cbuj Entertainment ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Gospel | Christian & Gospel | Styles | Music ASIN: B000HC2PKE Release Date: 2007-06-12

Tracks:

1. Daddy Sang Bass
2. Life's Railway To Heaven
3. I Saw the Light
4. Turn Your Radio On
5. Down the Road
6. Wait a Little Longer, Please Jesus
7. Grandma's Feather Bed
8. Looking For a City
9. Heaven's Jubilee
10. When the Wagon Was New
11. He Walks With the Wild And the lonely
12. Family Bible

Average customer rating:

Toccatas 2 - 70th Anniversary Edition Glenn Gould , and Bach Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music Classical Instrumental Music | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: Toccatas 1 - 70th Anniversary Edition Partitas 4 5 & 6 - 70th Anniversary Edition English Suites 1 2 & 3 - 70th Anniversary Edition Partitas 1 2 & 3 - 70th Anniversary Edition French Suites - 70th Anniversary Edition ASIN: B00006FIA4 Release Date: 2002-09-03

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