Rating: 
Summary: Do not hesitate. Get it.
Review: "This cannot be", said a famous conductor after viewing this performance. I thought the same thing after watching it too! Do not buy anything else untill you get this next. It's Gould up close for about an hour in the studio on a Yamaha grand piano. It's the most astonishing display of piano virtuosity I've ever seen. Gould worked very hard to produce this video and it was a very demanding task to complete. We are very fortunate that is was completed before Gould died about a year later.Very well produced and edited. This is how I wish all pianists were filmed- long close up shots of the hands on the piano. The audio is stereo and I highly recommend watching this video on a stereo VCR with headphones. You will feel like you are in the room with Gould. You can hear everything including chair noises, piano sqeeks, etc.. These noises are infrequent and do not interfere with the music but actually add to the whole experience. If you don't like Gould's humming, surprisingly, he hums very quietly here. Bach wrote this masterpiece for double manual harpsichord and this gave Bach the ability to write this great music with long phrases where two hands can pass over each other and not bump together (as they would on a single manual keyboard). That's why only the best pianists attempt to play this work- the two hands 'bump' into each other on a single keyboard. You'll see how Gould manages this difficult task with apparent ease in a dazzling display of virtuosity. And you'll also see why the keyboard cover on the piano was removed to facilitate the hands crossing over each other. This is one of Gould's most succesfull accomplishments. It's one of Bach's most enduring masterpieces. Do not hesitate. Get it.
Rating:
Summary: simply amazing
Review: ...frankly, I never appreciated G. Gould until I saw this. You will never see anyone play like this again. Forget his eccentricities, forget the oddness of watching him perform in a recording studio, etc. Just witness the depth of the man's involvement in this music, and his extraordinary technique. Oh, yes, and don't forget to pick your jaw up off the floor when you are done.
Rating:
Summary: Stunning
Review: A friend of mine once gave me a copy of Gould's performance of the Golberg Variations to listen to on CD. He said, "listen to it twice -- you won't like it the first time, but listen again and it will become your favorite." He was right. I later realized that upon the first listening it was difficult to make sense of the individual parts of this piece. But after you have a sense of the whole, you can begin to appreciate its complex beauty. On this DVD, Glenn Gould himself explains that he decided to re-record the piece precisely to emphasize the connection between each of the parts in the Goldberg Variations. The result is remarkable, both in terms of sound quality and the camera movements. The disc contains sound in both PCM stereo and Dolby Digital stereo. Sony did a superb job in making you forget this masterpiece was recorded 20 years ago. And you can't watch Gould play without being drawn yourself into his passion for the music. If you enjoy Bach, this is a must buy. One nitpick: the extras on this disc are pathetic. You get about 5 minutes worth of interviews with Gould himself, and some on-screen biographical text -- merely glorified liner notes. But this disc isn't about the extras. Let's hope Sony releases more Gould DVDs!
Rating:
Summary: Stunning
Review: A friend of mine once gave me a copy of Gould's performance of the Golberg Variations to listen to on CD. He said, "listen to it twice -- you won't like it the first time, but listen again and it will become your favorite." He was right. I later realized that upon the first listening it was difficult to make sense of the individual parts of this piece. But after you have a sense of the whole, you can begin to appreciate its complex beauty. On this DVD, Glenn Gould himself explains that he decided to re-record the piece precisely to emphasize the connection between each of the parts in the Goldberg Variations. The result is remarkable, both in terms of sound quality and the camera movements. The disc contains sound in both PCM stereo and Dolby Digital stereo. Sony did a superb job in making you forget this masterpiece was recorded 20 years ago. And you can't watch Gould play without being drawn yourself into his passion for the music. If you enjoy Bach, this is a must buy. One nitpick: the extras on this disc are pathetic. You get about 5 minutes worth of interviews with Gould himself, and some on-screen biographical text -- merely glorified liner notes. But this disc isn't about the extras. Let's hope Sony releases more Gould DVDs!
Rating: 
Summary: This guy is a real character
Review: After watching about 5 minutes of this video I am absolutely convinced of one thing: Glenn Gould is an absolute dork. I found it amusing how it took him a couple minutes just to say he basically re-recorded the Goldberg Variations because of new recording technology and his musical views had matured. His sort of quirky, pretentioius manner translates to his performance of Bach as you can easily call this the Goldberg Variations for piano and vocal accompaniment. With his sometimes free hand flailing about, humming excessively and out of key, and in an exaggerated crouch with his nose a few inches from the keyboard he looks more like a mad scientist than a concert pianist. The guy's a riot. But I guess that's all part of his appeal. Anyways, it's all quite entertaining to say the least. And of course anyone who's going to watch this video has already heard Gould perform this work and knows what to expect. I was, however, somewhat surprised at his generous use of the damper pedal. I always found his playing rather dry and percussive and never knew he used the pedal so much. I suppose he incorporated it more during his latter years. Still you get that kind of infectious percussive, rhythmically precise quality that's Gould's trademark.
Rating:
Summary: Genius performance
Review: All I can say is get it. The Goldberg Variations are one my favourite pieces by Bach. But hearing it played the way Glenn Gould does is amazing. I like this version better then the first version (1955)which is at times a little too fast for my taste, yet still more then excellent. Seeing Glenn Gould play this piece makes it even more powerful and appreciative. It looks at times unplayable to me. I can also recommend, especially for the people who like Bach the other in the series, XIV and XV.
Rating:
Summary: NOT the same soundtrack as the CD!
Review: Although I HEARTILY recommend this DVD, I thought I'd give a heads-up pointing out that the soundtrack on this DVD is NOT the exact same one as Gould's CD of his second generation of Goldberg recordings. The digital CD recording was made simultaneously with a video-taping, but for whatever reasons, the soundtrack of the video/DVD is NOT of the same quality of the CD's digital soundtrack -- the CD being quite superior as far as background noise (aside from Gould's humming of course!) and wow and flutter -- both of which are much more noticeable on the video/DVD. In fact, some of the variations are slightly different "takes" than the CD! I suspected this and it became pretty obvious when I started the CD with the DVD only to find out that by the end of the end of the first Aira things were outta' sync by more than a little! Anyway, if you DO buy this DVD (and again, I DO recommend it!) be sure you don't overlook the superior sound quality of the CD also! -- Roy
Rating:
Summary: end of an era...
Review: Fans of Glenn Gould will love to see this; a chance to watch Gould perform with great camera work from "Bruno" and company. The visual element inherent here may even win over some people previously opposed to Gould's approach. Great sound, great editing. It is, for the die-hard Gould fan, a cathartic experience. Glenn was near death when this was filmed, and it shows; he looks horrible. Thin hair, pancake makeup, ink stains on his fingers, and one rather obscenely long nostril hair make Gould seem almost corpse-like at points. But there is still his performance to cherish: a inimitable genius, totally lost in his art. Overall, a very interesting and rewarding document.
Rating: 
Summary: Rare Indeed
Review: Geroge Szell having elaborated with Gould, is reported to have said," This nut is a genius!"... How come a genius is called a nut, or, a nut a genius by someone who was so akin to a genius? (i) he had a very unique vision on Bach and had played some great polyphonic lines: his fingers, though far less muscular than Horowitz, were very independent-- the result of years of lonely hardwork ( like Richter ) since childhood plus a high degree of concentration. Menuhin put it further and said, "He was certainly not as inspiring as Kempff, but he has a divine presence..." Needless to say, the Russians were and the Americans are still crazy about him. But Bach by that time was hardly a proper repertoire for either a "musician" or "pianist"... Furthermore, like his inspirer Tureck (whom her teacher/colleague Horszowski said, "I always take her to be a scholar rather than a musician" ), he is by and large a lonely man even in his interpretation-- Nikolayeva did refer to him and her rendition is more a correction of him than anything else (Luganski's interview refers); (ii) the sound of this DVD is not the best by the 80's standard but is certainly more than acceptable but the visual effects are rather poor: he sat very low before the piano on a tiny little stool; he played with the button of one of his cuffs undone with one of his cuffs hanging and waving; the room where the piece was filmed was empty and dull and he looked much older than his actual age. Fortunately, there are some aerial views showing his fingerworks and those came in the midst of a lot of his face. But the depiction is not as good as The Alchemist filmed when he was younger-- perhaps that is not the fault of the photographer after all. (iii) he hums a lot in the whole session, something hard to justify. The interview though shorter, is more natural, more engaging and more to the point than The Alchemist. Bewarned that the sort of "divine presence" as his English Suite which could be seen from The Alchemist is no more: Gould's second version of Goldberg is more down to the earth. Nonetheless, unless one is happy with just one Goldberg, in which case, either Kempff or Nikolayeva may be more preferable, otherwise, one should have the appetide of hearing Gould as well, for he is rare and interesting enough.
Rating:
Summary: Beauty from within
Review: Glenn Gould's playing of the Goldberg variations is so beautiful.What I see is not only fingers on the keyboard,but a whole new life.One can feel peace,calmness and energy from Gould's playing.Though I'm not a Gould super fans,I would highly recommend this video.
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