I do consider Glenn Gould to be a musical genius. The best book I read about him is "Glenn Gould, the tragedy and extacy of a genius" by Peter Ostwald. Ostwald played with Gould for fun, being an enthousiastic non-professional violinist himself. He gives you a fascinating idea of the so-called man behind the musician. And Gould was a very excentric person so it isn't boring.
The strength of Gould lies in his talent to maintain seperate musical lines next to eachother with different characters. This is very rare heard among pianists, as far as I know.
His cutting in recordings allowed him to shape his performance to the esthetic perfection he had in mind. I like this way of making good records.
Unfortunately, there cut-faults to be heard on some albums, especially when you are using headphones. Suddenly the piano seems to warp to another location in the studio! Mistakes like this are not made in present day recordings.
But, in general termes, his recordings are very bright, though ADD mostly, and the sound of his manipulated Steinway is exstremely gentle.
For me, Glenn Gould reinvented Bach.
The strength of Gould lies in his talent to maintain seperate musical lines next to eachother with different characters. This is very rare heard among pianists, as far as I know.
His cutting in recordings allowed him to shape his performance to the esthetic perfection he had in mind. I like this way of making good records.
Unfortunately, there cut-faults to be heard on some albums, especially when you are using headphones. Suddenly the piano seems to warp to another location in the studio! Mistakes like this are not made in present day recordings.
But, in general termes, his recordings are very bright, though ADD mostly, and the sound of his manipulated Steinway is exstremely gentle.
For me, Glenn Gould reinvented Bach.
