Glenn Gould
 

Anyone here a Glenn Gould fan?
If so, do you have a personal favorite?
Also, if you get the chance to see the documentary that was made about him, its fantastic.

Yes I saw the documentary about him a few years ago, it was very well done and did give an excellent insight into a very eccentric artist, his vocal accompaniment to the recordings he made I found extremely funny, the producers always reminding him to just play the music without adding anything extra, but Gould simply couldn't help himself. I do own his version of the Beethoven Eroica Variations, but that's the only CD of his so I can't really say it's his best or compare it to other works he did. I have been downloading some classical recently and I'll check out some of his other pieces. Any suggestions?(I do have Beethoven and Chopin completely covered so anyone else you have in mind let me know.:thumb:)

Glenn was my idol when I was a teenager. (Wish my playing reflected that.) When I was a teenager, I saw a video of him playing something on TV. (Can't remember which one.) And I was captivated.

I'm curious which documentary you refer to. I have an old one in my video collection - a two-parter called "Off the Record" and "On the Record" if I recall.

Every once in a while, I ran into a Gould recording that truly disappointed me. I especially recall being dissatisfied w his recording of the Beethoven Moonlight Sonata, and his recording of Hindemith Trombone Sonata.

But I loved many of them. I especially liked his recording of Beethoven Tempest Sonata

Gould was a great Baroque pianist, no-one can deny that.
However, I have great respect for Angela Hewitt, the "Best Bach Yet" Pianist.
I perhaps like Angela more, however I greatly admire Glenn Gould's "So you want to write a Fugue?"

Gould was a brilliant exponent of Bach's music played on the piano - he revolutionized the concept at a time when it was considered by many to be "inappropriate" to play it on anything other than the original instrument.
His music however is highly idiomatic and served up in a manner that serves the performer rather than the composer. His recordings of composers other than Bach are less critically well received and he was an outspoken critic of romantic composers in general, even to the point where he was less than complimentary about the works of Beethoven and Mozart. He did play some of the later sonatas of Beethoven and also some works by modern composers such as Schoenberg, but it is Bach that he is rightly famous for.
He was famously eccentric, but how much of his odd behavior was for effect - who knows?
His playing in general was rife with idiosyncracies, odd tempos and strange phrasing. If you are looking for versions of works that are attempts to interpret the composer, then I suggest you look elsewhere. If you are looking for baroque period works that have been processed by a remarkable mind - then Gould is your man. Personally I prefer my Bach (and most other classical music for that matter) less 'mannered.'

Glenn Gould