Glenn Gould

Listen to one of the most beautiful performances of the first piano concerto by Brahms, performed by Glenn Gould, with Leonard Bernstein conducting New York Philharmonic. The quality is poor due to the live recording with the equipment used in 1963, but it definitely is worth listening. Also a pre-concert talk by Maestro Bernstein, and a short radio interview with Glenn Gould about the program would be interesting to listen to.

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Piano Concerto No. 1, D Minor Op. 15
Piano: Glenn Gould
New York Philharmonic
Leonard Bernstein
Recorded 1963, live at concert

1. 1st Movement, Maestoso, poco piu moderato [6.04 Mb 25:49 min]
4. Pre-concert talk, Leonard Bernstein [0.99 Mb 4:12 min]
5. Radio interview about the concert [0.91 Mb 3:45 min]

Notes about Glenn Gould (1932-1982):

- Gould was born Glen Gold in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on September 25, 1932. His family was Protestant and changed their name soon after his birth, fearing that it would otherwise be mistaken as Jewish during the growing anti-Semitism of the time.

- Glenn Gould frequently hummed along while he played, and his recording engineers varied in how successfully they could exclude his voice from his recordings. Gould claimed this singing was unconscious, and increased proportionately with the inability of the piano in question to realise the music as he intended.

- Gould also was known for his peculiar body movements while playing and for his insistence on sameness. He would only play concerts whilst sitting on a chair his father made. He continued to use this chair even when the seat was nearly worn through. His chair is so closely identified with him that it is shown in a place of honour in a glass case in the National Library of Canada.

- Gould was very afraid of being cold and wore very warm clothes, including gloves, at all times, even when he was in warm places. Gould also disliked social functions. He had an aversion to being touched and in later life he refused to talk to almost anyone in person, relying on the telephone and letters for communication. He conducted interviews with himself, wrote unusual personal advertisements about himself which he submitted to newspapers, and recorded other people's conversations in public places. When he was still performing publicly, he did a concert with the Cleveland Orchestra, after which conductor George Szell remarked, "No doubt about it - that nut's a genius".