Bach: Italian Concerto and Partitas

Gould at his most accessible, playing the piano rather like a harpsichord — the best introduction to him on SACD, stray clicks and omnipresent hiss notwithstanding.

This is a review I wrote for SA-CD.net and published there on the 7th of January 2006. SA-CD.net has since become hraudio.net and the old review pages went with it, so this is reproduced from the Internet Archive’s capture. It ran as a site review, and carries a joint copyright line with SA-CD.net.

The review is reproduced as it stood. Only the site’s own furniture around it — the star graphics, the “was this review helpful?” footer — has been dropped, and the ratings it carried are restated as numbers below.

Sony Classical · SS 06141 · single-layer disc · stereo only · Analogue recording

Performance 5/5 · Sonics 3/5

This recording featuring Bach’s Italian Concerto and the first two Partitas for keyboard are probably one of Glenn Gould’s most accessible and easy to digest interpretations, so it’s no surprise that Sony has chosen it for re-mastering on SA-CD.

Canadian pianist Glenn Gould first became famous for his daring interpretation of Bach’s Goldberg Variations on his debut album with Columbia. Featuring unusual tempis for some of the variations, crystal clear playing, and a dazzling technical virtuosity (especially in the way he played some variations lightning fast), the overall performance made many people see the work with completely new eyes. Even jaded connoisseurs found fresh insights in a seemingly rigid and formal piece of music and a performance that seemed to go against convention for piano interpretations of Bach keyboard works.

Well, much of that is on this album as well, but in pieces that are easier for non-Bach fans to digest and appreciate. Glenn plays the piano more like a harpsichord, deliberately avoiding extreme dynamics and maintaining fairly strict rhythm. The result are melodies that soar in spite of the rigid performance, and the phrasing is so clear all the individual polyphonic parts come through with perfect clarity. The fast passages (particularly Third Movement (Presto) of the Italian Concerto are as breathtaking as ever, and Glenn’s annoying vocalisations (very prominent in some of his later albums) are thankfully kept to a minimum.

The first track contains some fairly distracting clicks (background noise rather than a fault of the mastering) in the left channel during the opening bars. Hiss is omnipresent, with a timbre that seems to vary constantly, which some may find distracting.

Compared to the CD version (I used the latest release that I could find, which is part of a box set called The Original Jacket Collection: Glenn Gould Plays Bach). The CD version seems to make Glenn’s vocalise a little more prominent (which could be an indication it is better mastered) but the performance SA-CD version seems to flow a little more organically.

Glenn Gould fans of course need no encouragement to buy this album on SA-CD. But it is an excellent introduction to Bach and also to the talent of Glenn Gould if you are unfamiliar with either.