Oddly enough - though everything about Glenn Gould was odd - Gould was none of the above.
Though the Bible of classical music, The Penguin Guide, seldom bestows more than two stars on Glenn Gould's CDs, Sviatoslav Richter -arguably the greatest all-around pianist of the second half of the Twentieth Century - considered Gould a genius of the keyboard.
In fact, after hearing Gould, Richter refused to record "The Goldberg Variations."
Gould was a superb raconteur and writer as well. Some epigrams:
"One does not play the piano with one's fingers, one plays the piano with one's mind."
"Isolation is the one sure way to human happiness."
"The purpose of art is not the momentary ejection of adrenaline but is, rather, the gradual, lifelong construction of a state of wonder and serenity."
Article comments
1 - Eric Olsen
Who says pianists have to homosexual? Look at Elton John and Little Richard and Barry Manilow.
2 - HW Saxton Jr.
... and Liberace.
3 - Eric Olsen
Yeah!
4 - Agentsmith
This recently remastered CD set (A State of Wonder) is a wonderful bargain - a rare gift from the record company. Lovingly remastered with both the 1955 and the 1981 sessions. The 1955 is Gould's first recording of Goldberg, and is the recording that put Gould on the map. The 1981 recording, ironically, is his very last recording.
The 1981 recording is drawn from the analogue "safety" mastertape. The sound quality is far superior then any previously released versions, incuding the SACD version. Also included is a full CD of Tim Page's interviews with outakes and lots of insights and humour.
Anyone with interest on Goldberg Variations or Gould definitely should not miss this "3 for one" disc.
5 - bhw
Billy Joel!
Jerry Lee Lewis!
[Hey, this is fun! Kind of like the Hannukah song for gay pianists.]
Dudley Moore!
John Tesh!
6 - Alexios Laskaris
American pianists can't even be considered as
an "example"; they are dull, too consecrated to
past european techniques, etc. There are many
american virtuosos, but they lack the "european
inspiration". It may seem a contradiction but USA
always looks for Europe as an example. This is
natural since USA does not have a "real" culture,
but a sum of them. Americans have great resources
and could be very important virtuosos, like
Ievgeni Kissin... What is the matter with "the most powerful country on earth"? You can do better, definitivement, mes chers amis
7 - Alexios Laskaris
Elton John is a pathetic clown, not a pianist, altough he tortures the keyboard with his hands... Not an homophobic comment, becauste I think homosexual people have a most refinded sense of art than us. Examples: they are too many, since Da Vinci.
8 - Alxios Laskaris
Of course, Kissin is not American, but he should act as an example for american pianists... Americans just produce musicals, or Gershwin, and that is pathetic, having so many resources. Maybe it's your president, who is a bloody ass that does no think about art, just ilogic wars.
9 - Bliffle
OK, it's easy to criticize Gould, but every time I listen to his playing I smile. Involuntarily. And I love smiling when I listen to Bach.
10 - yoshi
i'd never heard that Horowitz quote before,along the same lines as what Bernstein once said (you have to be Gay or Jewish to write a good musical and i'm both)...Gould's sexuality was an odd matter.it used to be assumed he was gay but that was not neccesarily the case.
Weissenberg (Bulgarian/jewish/gay),a pianist who Gould greatly admired is well worth investigating.
11 - paulostroff
Richter,one of the finest if not the finest pianists of the 20Th century-was also a homosexual.
12 - suuulk
When one finds oneself on the path of Gould's admiration as an artist, that is a just way to art itself
13 - mosheashk
people don't like glenn gould today many concert pianists
because they are jealous. he had a flawless tecnique, as did Richter, but they hardly seemed to give a damn about it. all about musicality.
next time a famous pianist slags off either of these two, it is good to remember that they are jealous scum whores.
richter and gould were great human beings. many proffessianl musicians today are scum who are museum pieces.
long live gould and richter and horowitz
14 - David Stone
To put Elton John in the same conversation as Glenn Gould and Horowitz reflects that absolute ignorance that most people today have of the history of piano music. I would love to see Elton John handed some Liszt to play to see the look of terror on his face if he was forced to try to play it. I love Gould because though he could play Liszt, Chopin, or anything really with great ease, he preferred the pure beauty of JS Bach. And though Mozart irritated him, he played some of the best (if a bit irreverent)versions of the Mozart sonatas. Was he crazy? Yep. But brilliant? For sure. Never heard the guy hit a bad note either.
15 - tuberobotto
It says in the phrase enclosed with parentheses that Horowitz was two out of the three, but which one comes second after the fact that He was Jewish?
Please forgive my ignorance with the aforementioned Legends' genealogies, but is Richter Jewish too? In asking this may I proceed to ask if Emil Gilels is also Jewish?
It isn't for their genetic root per se that I ask, it's just that I have a great fondness for their playing. Their being Jewish is a bonus, if I may say so.
Nowadays when I discover a potentially good new recording by a new pianist, I tend to suspect he/she might be Jewish, and it goes on to the other instruments as well. Don't blame me, blame it on their genes.
16 - Nikki
Most successful are Jewish Homosexual pianists, just because the biggest artist management companies are Jewish
17 - Nikki
Richter is Not Jewish.