Glenn Gould The Complete Columbia Album Collection [USB MEMORY STICK]

Gramophone year book 2009, states "that there has been no more original genius of the keyboard then Glen Gould". (1932-1982).(REVIEWS BELOW). There is a grace and good humour to all his recordings that make them seem like captured improvisations, personal, inspired, free. Such creative excitement is something few pianists can achieve. However, in a four part film in colour made in 1974, called the Alchemist by Bruno Monsaingeon about Gould, he states, "this is the first time you have probably seen Gould. His career was cut short when he was 32,(1964) for he resolved never to be seen in public again, as he hated the whole hedonistic circus. He is a legend amongst other pianists. Why did you give up playing concerts". "I was not prepared for the blood sport of concert going. Once it was thrust upon me, I felt it was appalling. I was distinctly uncomfortable"THE BOX:A thick grey box with Glenn Gould in black letters, with remastered in red, plus the chair in the middle on all sides of the box. On the top is the lid with pictures of the LP covers around the sides. Also on one side are details of the contents inside, printed on paper glued to the box. Remove it gently, then take off the rubber glue and place the paper inside the box. The box is as high as the Living Stereo classical box set, however the box is three quarters the size of a LP. The difference is you lay it flat like a ordinary small box set, it is not like the LP sized Bernstein or Walter box set, where you have difficulty finding a place to store it. Inside the box is another one that is higher, on which the lid sits. Both sides of this second inner box have two black cardboard boxes to hold in place the 81 CDs in the middle. There is a ribbon to help you pull the hard covered booklet out of the box. The weight of the box is 5.76 KG.The sleeves are the originals with notes on the back, which you will need a microscope to read them, that is why the notes are in the booklet. On the spine is the composer, music to be played and CD number. There are nine double CDs and you retrieve them from the top of the sleeve, not the side as is usual. The original CD label has 36 CDs with grey and the rest are mainly a light khaki brown. The digital CDs have a dark blue label with a red stripe. Two labels are blue. The albums are in the original order that Gould recorded them, so we can track his evolution as a performer and recording artist. It begins with Bach's Goldberg variations that Gould taped in June 1955 when he was just 22. The Beethoven Sonata No 24 and 29 'Hammerklavier' are missing, so are one or two others. Five CDs are MONO. Four DIGITAL. A few part stereo and Mono, the majority are STEREO.No translation of the songs. This is the first 416 page booklet since the Living Stereo box set booklet I have come across which is useful. There is an essay called Glen Gould remastered by Kevin Bazzana, which is about his records, his recording efforts, where he liked to sleep during the day and record at night. His composing and writing. Another article by remastering producer Andreas Mayer, Bringing new life to Glen Gould's art with technical details. Pictures of him. LP Cover, Columbia internal documents, then Music and track numbers, and the notes that were on the back of the LP; many of the articles were written by Gould himself. Recording dates and other data. Discographical information. Last page remastering details.REMASTERING by Andreas Meyer:The remastering ensures that we are hearing exactly what was recorded at the studio with greater clarity than ever Gould had heard. The restoration tools allow us to remove such noises as electrical tics, pops, random studio noises, or even electrical buzzing. Since the dawn of the CD more then thirty years ago, mastering technology and software have advanced as any other software driven technology. It was as late as 1992 on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Gould's death and what would have been his 60th birthday year, that Sony made his entire legacy available in the successful white covered Glenn Gould edition. Previously unreleased works were remastered from tape, other's were treated with Super Bit Mapping Sony's own digital filter technique for achieving High definition 20 bit sound quality on the 16 bit based CD format.Now in 2015, we have accomplished a project that took more then three years: the analogue (and digital) remastering of Gould's entire recorded legacy for Columbia. Remastering and restoration is not, however a process of creating something new, but the art of bring clarity and enhancement to the original masterpiece. Just as the restoration of the Sistine Chapel brought new life to Michelangelo's paintings, so we've tried to bring new life to Glenn Gould's recordings.CD 1-72, 75,77,80. Tape mixing and mastering from the original analogue tapes to Direct Stream Digital (DSD). CD 73, 74, 76 & 78. U-matic digital tape transfers.RECORDINGS:I will not review the CDs in the order in which they are in the box, and some not at all, as you have the list provided by Amazon. I simply want to give you an idea of what is in this box set and what the music is like.BACH: "You do realize that Gould can lift Bach out of all possible time-warps and make him one of music's truest modernists" stated Gramophone year book 2009.GOLDBERG VARIATIONS. The 1955 version has the freshness of youth and is a classic. The 1955 recording rechanneled for stereo is included as well. The 1981 version has a more meditative quality that is equally fascinating. THE WELL-TEMPERED CLAVIER. BOOK 1-2. His intelligence and musicianship are breathtaking.(Life) Gould makes the pieces spring to life with bold overall conceptions, marvelous technique and vaulting lines.(Time) Clavier concerto nos 1-5,7. The D minor concerto was conducted by Bernstein with the Columbia SO and the rest Golschmann. The performances are strongly personal and, whether or not you like them, strangely compelling. SIX ENGLISH SUITES. Every bar tingles with joie de vivre and an unequalled force and vitality. The SEVEN TOCCATAS offer some of Glenn Gould's finest Bach playing. VIOLA DA GAMBA SONATAS Nos 1-3. VIOLIN SONATAS for violin and harpsichord No 1-6. Rose's tone is subtly coloured and beautiful focused, his playing shows a fine sensibility is admirably suited to the Viola da gamba. He and Gould achieve a very close partnership indeed. In the violin sonatas there is some lovely quiet lyrical playing from Laredo. Gould's contribution is unconventional. That is why I like him, he is different.MOZART: SONATAS 1-18. Very unconventional, which is why I like Gould.BEETHOVEN: SONATAS 1-18. Sonatas 23, 30-32. I find Gould's version of the Sonatas very human, and gives you a another insight into these great works. Penguin classical guide 1996 calls the sonatas quirky, I call them thought provoking. Although I do own the great Emil Gilels and Barenboim Bluray versions of Beethoven Sonatas and would not wish to part with them, I do recommend these Beethoven sonatas played by Gould. PIANO CONCERTO No 1 in C major Cond Golschmann, is exhilarating. Second Piano Concerto no 2 in B flat major Cond Bernstein is first rate. Piano Concerto No 3 in C minor cond Bernstein commands admiration. All with the Columbia symphony orchestra. The 4th with Bernstein and the New York Phil plus the 5th with Stokowski Conducting the American symphony orchestra, I do recommend highly.BRAHMS: 4 BALLADES. 2 RHAPSODIES. A beautiful rendition. INTERMEZZI for Piano. Stunning playing. "the sexiest interpretation of Brahms intermezzi you have ever heard. Which was one of the recordings I am most proud of" said Gould. And so he should be.BIZET: Nocturne. Variations Chromatiques. He championed these works as everything he does is the result of artistic conviction as with SCHOENBERG: 5 piano pieces. 6 little piano pieces. 5 piano pieces. 2 piano pieces. suite for piano. This music has the expected concentration. He emotionally identifies with Schoenberg. 2 ballads Mezzo Helen Vanni, Cornelis Opthof baritone. Book of the hanging Gardens Helen Vanni,2 Gesange Donald Gramm Bass- Baritone, 4 lieder Ellen Faull soprano, 6 lieder Vanni and Gramm, 8 lieder, 2 lieder, 5 lieder, 3 lieder, 2 lieder op post. Helen Vanni. Mostly from Schoenberg's early period and very tuneful they are, then a few from his 12 tone system period. Beautifully sung by Vanni and Gramm. Gould shows himself to be an excellent accompanist.HINDEMITH: Gould had a great feeling for this composer and championed this composer at a time when he had become comparatively unfashionable. Alto horn Sonata.(Mason Jones). Bass tuba sonata.(Abe Torchinsky). French horn Sonata.(Mason Jones). Trombone sonata.(Henry Smith). Trumpet sonata.(Gilbert Johnson). Gould plays with strong personality and commitment throughout. You may wonder why these pieces are not heard more often. Das Marienleben. (The life of the Virgin Mary) From the 15 Poems by Rainer Maria Rilke. Roxolana Roslak soprano and Gould combine well to bring to life this neglected piece. Original version 1922/23. Revised 1948, but that version is not in this set. SIBELIUS: 3 Sontatines for piano. They are gentle, tuneful and almost meditative, bringing out the quieter playing style of Gould. He had a feeling for and also championed these works. RICHARD STRAUSS: Piano Sonata op 5. Written when the composer was 16. 5 piano pieces, essentially salon music. This is Gould's last recording, completed on September 3, 1982 at RCA "A' in New York. He had great enthusiasm for Strauss's youthful Sonata, as well as the five pieces. A little over a month after the last session, Gould suffered a stroke that resulted in his death.WAGNER: Gould's own piano transcriptions of the following orchestral show pieces. Meistersinger Prelude. Dawn and Siegfried's Rhine journey from "Gotterdammerung". Siegfried Idyll. Part of that music, Wagner used for the Act three duet between Siegfried and Brunnhilde in his opera Siegfried. Gould captures the spirit of the pieces, especially Siegfried Idyll. In fact Gould managed to get right into the music and capture its inner soul. This music was dedicated to Cosima Wagner, daughter of Lizst. BEETHOVEN: 5th symphony. Transcribed for piano by Franz Lizst. Gould seems to relish this transcription of this most famous piece.A CONSORT OF MUSICKE BYE WILLIAM BYRDE AND ORLANDO GIBBONS: BYRD:(1543-1623) First Pavan and Galliard. GIBBONS:(1583-1623) Fantasy in C major. Allemande. BYRD: Huge Ashton's Ground. Sixth Pavan and Galliard. GIBBONS: Lord of Salisbury, Pavan and Galliard. BYRD: A Voluntary. Sellinger's round. Gould dared to play this music on the piano and make it seem as if it was from the period it was composed in.THE GLENN GOULD SILVER JUBILEE ALBUM: There were albums that Gould began but never finished: sonatas by Scarlatti, C.P.E Bach and Scriabin; Strauss songs, with Elizabeth Schwarzkopf, Beethoven symphonies in Lizst's transcriptions. ( Remnants from these aborted projects appeared in his Silver Jubilee Album in 1980)DOMENICO SCARLATTI: Keyboard Sonata in D Major. Non Presto ma a tempo di ballo. Keyboard Sonata in D minor. Allegro. Keyboard Sonata in G major. Presto. C.P.E. BACH: Moderato. Andante. Allegro assai. GOULD: So you want to write a Fugue. For 4 voices and a string quartet. Juilliard String Quartet. Golschmann conductor. SCRIABIN: 2 Morceaux. 1. Desir. 2. Caresse dansee. RICHARD STRAUSS: Ophelia-Lieder. 3songs after Shakespeare. BEETHOVEN: Symphony no 6. 1st Movement.GLEN GOULD: CONCERT DROPOUT. IN CONVERSATION WITH JOHN McCLURE. "We of Columbia are use to your vocal noises" states McClure. "I can't do without it. I cannot help it. I would not like it on records I bought. I try to stop it by trying everything so it does'nt reach the microphones". (Actually, you cannot hear him on many of the CDs, but when it does happen, the remastering has made it barely audible- I don't mind it, its part of his charm- T).McClure mentions that "you are the first famous pianist to give up the concert hall for the recording studio, many pianists love the atmosphere of the audience otherwise they could not play". Gould feels that the concert hall encourages you into bad habits, whereas at home you do not get the tension you do in the recording studio". "Your tempi do not fall into the usual Concert hall Tempi, your's are either fast or slow." "I do not like to take the usual approach. I do not deliberately like to shake up people, but to show them another way is possible which you cannot do in a concert hall."" Your editing and splicing of the tapes are viewed with suspicion by concert audiences,they feel you are somehow cheating. However, anything that comes between the audience and the pianist is threatening. New ideas are often controversal." mentions John. Glenn explains that, "if it were possible, I would like my different splices to be sold to the public, so they can create their own sound". The opera Madame Butterfly has the 1904, and 1906, along with the other versions on 4 CDs produced by Vox, cond Rosekrans. You can programme the discs to create the version you want, if you have a three disc CD player. So Gould predicted the future."You dislike airplanes and cities. You often take off for the wilds of Northern Canada by car or train" "That's true"Critics did call Gould eccentric. I certainly do not, but ahead of his time. But I think he found the concert hall too much of a tread mill and superficial, and wanted to express his uniqueness via recordings. He was not reclusive, he liked to work with the radio and in TV. And his views on cities and the need to get away and live for a while in Nature are common place today. We realize that Climate change is a fact and we are a part of Nature and it is unwise to ignore it.-TI hope you enjoy this set as much as I did.VOTES 17 out of 18. US and Brit Amazon have not replaced my votes during the change. Brit Amazon refuses to do anything about it.

I've just gotten round to some comparisons between the Glenn Gould "original jackets" box and the new Remasters box and first impressions are very favourable - I have always found those earlier iterations quite "toppy" with some "ring" on the piano sound and a sense of the levels in general being a little too strident. All of that is gone and a much smoother image merges - obviously the playing remains superb - the often uncanny articulation and his wonderful left hand technique is just so engaging but given that one will never get the same piano tone as is evident on more modern recordings such as those by Igor Levit, these seem to be a real qualitative jump. Already I note that the remasters do not induce the "listening fatigue" that can so easily happen with the non-remastered discs.what about the two box sets ? well, these things are fairly limited and whilst the remasters will hit the OJ box price for a short time, my view is that these will appreciate so make for an investment over time.....I realise the spotify brigade won't go there but as you don't really own anything with spotify - ( leaving aside the whole lossy format / disguised sonic gaps business) - there will likely be a future market for both of these editions plus one gets the pleasure of listening now.The book that comes with new set is the most impressive cd-linked book I've ever seen and could easily be published as a discrete text . It is a 10"x10" hardcover format of 420 pages with superb lengthy essays on each recording (mostly by Gould himself) and other essays on the recording process, Gould's interest in recording technologies and the remastering project itself. This contrasts with the brief paragraph on each recording in the booklet supplied as part of the Original Jackets box.It will take some time to listen to all of these discs, let alone read the book, but unless the three I've picked at random for this initial sample are freakishly better than their fellows, this will be a joy. Whats not to like ? If only all remasters could deliver in this way. For example - and as has been noted elsewhere - the Horowitz Carnegie Hall box sounds like it was recorded in a chest ward - why on earth can't this awful chorus of hawking and coughing have been edited out. It adds absolutely nothing to the perfromances and makes many sections almost unlistenable in my view.You pays your money but what you get here is definitely a real choice.

I ordered this for a friend and he was over the moon with the selection, especially the books which explain every piece of music.

Very good

Wonderful collection