Search - Glenn Gould, Bach :: Partitas 4 5 & 6 - 70th Anniversary Edition

ABSOLUTELY BREATHTAKING!!

Sébastien Melmoth | Hôtel d'Alsace, PARIS | 05/16/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."

Glen Gould at his best

Alicia Carpenter | Tx.USA | 03/08/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

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

"

Classic...but uneven. Perhaps 4.5 stars.

B. Lee | Chicago, IL USA | 10/14/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've cherished Glenn Gould's Bach Partitas since I first found it from my father's old LP collection many years ago. I've listened to it ridiculosly many times in all formats--cassettes, CDs, and MP3s. (I now always carry it in my iPhone.) Gould's fiendishly exuberant playing is of course classic. He is most successful in Partitas 1 and 4. But his overall playing is uneven, and the recording sound itself is uneven, too. His Sinfonia in Partia 2 is ugly. His Praeambulum in Partita 5 is too fast; Toccata in Partita 6 is too slow and ponderous. For modern interpretations of Bach Partitas on piano, those by Craig Sheppard and Sharon Mann are good. (Sharon Mann's playing sounds somehwat Gouldish, even though she was once a student of Rosalyn Tureck.) For partial Partitas, Arrau(1,2,3,5), Argerich(2), Tomsic(1) are very good. For a slow interpretation, there always is Tureck (Philips and VAI)."