•
Rating: Only Glenn Gould could surpass Glenn Gould.
Since his revolutionary interpretations of the Goldberg Variations were published back in '56, those small (i.e., short) masterpieces by Bach were reborn and received new international attention, as if the world were discovering them at that moment.
No one before had offered such a clear, lucid, and audacious reading; Gould soared over those notes with such naturalness that he seemed the composer himself, so much so that many spoke ironically (but not too much) of “Gould-berg” Variations.
After him, and not without a certain amount of reverential fear, many attempted the titanic challenge of overcoming what was shaping up to be a double hurdle: on one hand, the difficulty inherent in merely trying to reproduce those sublime and extremely difficult notes from the score; and on the other, the perhaps even higher difficulty of being able to play them in a way that didn’t pale too much compared to the towering interpretation of that young budding genius.
Those who tried to imitate him failed miserably. Those who wanted to create new originality in approaching that music often fell into exaggeration or did not reach Gould's explosive brilliance, which had the flavor of discovery. Many, on the other hand, managed to give worthy interpretations, maybe more historically grounded, like the excellent one by Kenneth Gilbert on the harpsichord, yet they could not dethrone Glenn's immortal piano recordings.
In 1981, exactly a quarter-century later, the unparalleled Bach interpreter, for some unfathomable reason, decided to tackle those beloved Variations again and returned to the recording studio. Well, the miracle happened...
Totally different from the '56 version, the new one is much slower (51' versus 39'), reflective, focused, the sound is even more polished, everything is stretched out, relaxed even in the stormiest moments. A truly epic encounter occurs between one of the greatest masterpieces in all of music and its greatest interpreter ever, who returns to meet his dearest friend after almost thirty years; and both have changed.
The fury of youthful impulse is tempered by the serenity of wisdom, the explosions "implode" and resonate in the soundboard of the soul, and an affectionate, playful gentleness, sometimes moved, caresses the notes and covers them with a layer of pure gold.
Gould always wanted to be all intellect, but here he truly plays with heart, and it can be felt in the sweetness with which he sings to himself, with a voice clearly perceptible, the notes he plays and celebrates.
After closing the circle so magnificently, Glenn Gould died the following year. Who knows how he would have played them at seventy-five...
Loading comments slowly
