inquadwetrust
300 Club - QQ All-Star
I wonder if many QQers own the Sony three disc set of Glenn Gould's 1955 and 1981 recordings of the Goldberg Variations?
These discs rarely leaves my current listening pile - it's a wonderful set that is fully HDCD encoded despite there being no reference to this anywhere on the box or in the booklet. The sound quality is superb, although it's worth mentioning the 1955 recording is tonally different to the 1981 in that slight tape hiss is evident (and no worse and considerably better than other other Sony Classic CDs) but I'm sure this has preserved the dynamic range as of the two you'll find the earlier recording requires a significant increase in volume to listen to comfortably. You can hear Gould rattle both his chair and the piano itself throughout - famously, he was less than impressed with the beat up old instrument they provided so perhaps these additions are based more in disenchantment than in reverie. The second recording was originally the first big release to be digitally captured and the limitation of the format's infancy is evident in the original LP and CD release. Those releases seem brittle with the dynamic blending of complex runs being left disconnected and somewhat adrift. Luckily a full analogue master was recorded in tandem should the new digital technology fail and it's this previously unedited master that we can hear on the 1981 version. It sounds about as near perfect as a HDCD can - a pure and unadulterated delight that effortlessly fills the room.
Gould differed from his predecessors in that he intoned vocally over his piano performance, adding extra contrapuntal melodies that bring Gould's ghost right into the room. These sung verbalisations split opinion but I feel they add a personal insight that is priceless. We can hear Gould being completely mentally lost in what he is playing whilst simultaneously his fingers deliver each and every note with such passion and vigour, a rapture that you can hear enveloping him - his own voice rising to meet the notes emerging with warmth and total engagement.
As different as these recordings are sonically, the performance is really where they stand apart. The first recording is lightening fast, a blur of technical skill from the very young Gould which swings hard and true throughout with a lightness of touch that defies the aural depth. In using the modern piano Gould brings dynamics and colour that the intended instrument of delivery, the harpsichord, just cannot produce. But the performance of the second and it's tonal and temporal contrasts that really shine here. If the first recording changed the way in which classical music could be reinterpreted forever then the second is a glorious last stand delivered to posterity as the completion of a life less ordinary. Gould was to pass away shortly after this session and given that his recording contract came from a single audition in which he performed excerpts from the Variations it seems entirely fitting that these were some of the last notes he would commit to tape. Innocence versus experience is one way of classifying the contrast but the experience of listening to them back to back transcends such light language, so animatedly different are they. Heart achingly beautiful though both are, it is the later sections of the second recording that really get the adrenalin flowing. Gould's command of each intonation is magisterial and if anything the sound stage seems to grow exponentially with each note, vivid colours being drawn in infinitesimally fine strokes across Bach's centuries old canvas. The Aria De Capo at the end is very special to me - my wife and I chose it for the moment she walked into the registry office for our marriage. Disclosing this relationship with the source material to one side aside I'd go as far to say that this slight three minutes and forty-five seconds manages to contain more emotion and beauty than entire cannons of contemporaneous material.
If you've never heard these recordings I urge you to commandeer this set as soon as is possible - It goes for less than £10 or $8 as used in new condition from what I've seen on Amazon. The sound quality, especially on the 1981 version is truly remarkable. My Oppo BDP83 really gives each HDCD version room to breathe and having A/B'd the regular CD decode I'd say that sounds wonderful as well.
I'm fairly sure Gould's work never made it's way into quad in his lifetime or from his master tapes but through my passion for his unique approach I've acquired two surround curios attached to Gould's legacy. One is a Zenph Re-Performance SACD which features a redbook 2.0 as well as 2.0 and 5.1 layers. In essence, Zenph is player-piano technology for the modern age. They analysed the original 1955 Goldberg performance recording and by using a robotic piano playing device they re-record the performance down to the tiniest detail. The other is a three SACD redbook 2.0/2.0/5.1 set from German Radio Station of a radio play about his life. I'm going to post in the relevant forums for surround about them but each adds insight and further depth to a fascinating piece of music and an even more fascinating man. Discourse on these SACDs will relate directly to this definitive release though - I should add that disc three here features a remarkable 50 minute discussion about the two recordings featuring Gould himself in sparklingly funny form as well as 12 minutes of additional and glorious out takes from the 1955 recording complete with studio dialogue and priceless piano phrasing practise as well as Gould's colourful outbursts - 'any singing get on that part? Can I hear that one please?'. The attached booklet contains some well written essays which provide far greater insight than my ramblings ever could and a glimpse at Gould's personally annotated score. The packaging design is beautifully thought out too with provocative images of Gould, never more so effective than the main gatefold which shows Gould at the piano in 1955 mirrored with his alternate variant self in 1981.
I'd love to hear an QQers thoughts on these monumental recordings so please respond with your personal take on them.
These discs rarely leaves my current listening pile - it's a wonderful set that is fully HDCD encoded despite there being no reference to this anywhere on the box or in the booklet. The sound quality is superb, although it's worth mentioning the 1955 recording is tonally different to the 1981 in that slight tape hiss is evident (and no worse and considerably better than other other Sony Classic CDs) but I'm sure this has preserved the dynamic range as of the two you'll find the earlier recording requires a significant increase in volume to listen to comfortably. You can hear Gould rattle both his chair and the piano itself throughout - famously, he was less than impressed with the beat up old instrument they provided so perhaps these additions are based more in disenchantment than in reverie. The second recording was originally the first big release to be digitally captured and the limitation of the format's infancy is evident in the original LP and CD release. Those releases seem brittle with the dynamic blending of complex runs being left disconnected and somewhat adrift. Luckily a full analogue master was recorded in tandem should the new digital technology fail and it's this previously unedited master that we can hear on the 1981 version. It sounds about as near perfect as a HDCD can - a pure and unadulterated delight that effortlessly fills the room.
Gould differed from his predecessors in that he intoned vocally over his piano performance, adding extra contrapuntal melodies that bring Gould's ghost right into the room. These sung verbalisations split opinion but I feel they add a personal insight that is priceless. We can hear Gould being completely mentally lost in what he is playing whilst simultaneously his fingers deliver each and every note with such passion and vigour, a rapture that you can hear enveloping him - his own voice rising to meet the notes emerging with warmth and total engagement.
As different as these recordings are sonically, the performance is really where they stand apart. The first recording is lightening fast, a blur of technical skill from the very young Gould which swings hard and true throughout with a lightness of touch that defies the aural depth. In using the modern piano Gould brings dynamics and colour that the intended instrument of delivery, the harpsichord, just cannot produce. But the performance of the second and it's tonal and temporal contrasts that really shine here. If the first recording changed the way in which classical music could be reinterpreted forever then the second is a glorious last stand delivered to posterity as the completion of a life less ordinary. Gould was to pass away shortly after this session and given that his recording contract came from a single audition in which he performed excerpts from the Variations it seems entirely fitting that these were some of the last notes he would commit to tape. Innocence versus experience is one way of classifying the contrast but the experience of listening to them back to back transcends such light language, so animatedly different are they. Heart achingly beautiful though both are, it is the later sections of the second recording that really get the adrenalin flowing. Gould's command of each intonation is magisterial and if anything the sound stage seems to grow exponentially with each note, vivid colours being drawn in infinitesimally fine strokes across Bach's centuries old canvas. The Aria De Capo at the end is very special to me - my wife and I chose it for the moment she walked into the registry office for our marriage. Disclosing this relationship with the source material to one side aside I'd go as far to say that this slight three minutes and forty-five seconds manages to contain more emotion and beauty than entire cannons of contemporaneous material.
If you've never heard these recordings I urge you to commandeer this set as soon as is possible - It goes for less than £10 or $8 as used in new condition from what I've seen on Amazon. The sound quality, especially on the 1981 version is truly remarkable. My Oppo BDP83 really gives each HDCD version room to breathe and having A/B'd the regular CD decode I'd say that sounds wonderful as well.
I'm fairly sure Gould's work never made it's way into quad in his lifetime or from his master tapes but through my passion for his unique approach I've acquired two surround curios attached to Gould's legacy. One is a Zenph Re-Performance SACD which features a redbook 2.0 as well as 2.0 and 5.1 layers. In essence, Zenph is player-piano technology for the modern age. They analysed the original 1955 Goldberg performance recording and by using a robotic piano playing device they re-record the performance down to the tiniest detail. The other is a three SACD redbook 2.0/2.0/5.1 set from German Radio Station of a radio play about his life. I'm going to post in the relevant forums for surround about them but each adds insight and further depth to a fascinating piece of music and an even more fascinating man. Discourse on these SACDs will relate directly to this definitive release though - I should add that disc three here features a remarkable 50 minute discussion about the two recordings featuring Gould himself in sparklingly funny form as well as 12 minutes of additional and glorious out takes from the 1955 recording complete with studio dialogue and priceless piano phrasing practise as well as Gould's colourful outbursts - 'any singing get on that part? Can I hear that one please?'. The attached booklet contains some well written essays which provide far greater insight than my ramblings ever could and a glimpse at Gould's personally annotated score. The packaging design is beautifully thought out too with provocative images of Gould, never more so effective than the main gatefold which shows Gould at the piano in 1955 mirrored with his alternate variant self in 1981.
I'd love to hear an QQers thoughts on these monumental recordings so please respond with your personal take on them.
