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Bach: The Goldberg Variations | 
 enlarge | Artists: Johann Sebastian Bach, Glenn Gould
Label: CBS Recordings
Category: Music
List Price: $13.98
Buy Used: $2.41
You Save: $11.57 (83%)
New (35) Used (25) Collectible (1) from $2.41
Rating:  73 reviews
Sales Rank: 14123
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 37779
UPC: 074643777926
EAN: 0074643777926
ASIN: B0000025PM
Release Date: October 25, 1990
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: CD in a jewel case. includes front + back paper inserts. The CD has scratches; plays OK. The case is in very good condition.
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| Tracks:
| • | Aria | | • | Variation 1 | | • | Variation 2 | | • | Variation 3 | | • | Variation 4 | | • | Variation 5 | | • | Variation 6 | | • | Variation 7 | | • | Variation 8 | | • | Variation 9 | | • | Variation 10 | | • | Variation 11 | | • | Variation 12 | | • | Variation 13 | | • | Variation 14 | | • | Variation 15 | | • | Variation 16 | | • | Variation 17 | | • | Variation 18 | | • | Variation 19 | | • | Variation 20 | | • | Variation 21 | | • | Variation 22 | | • | Variation 23 | | • | Variation 24 | | • | Variation 25 | | • | Variation 26 | | • | Variation 27 | | • | Variation 28 | | • | Variation 29 | | • | Variation 30 | | • | Aria da Capo |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com essential recording
The clear-cut rhythms, riveting articulation, and contrapuntal acumen of Glenn Gould's 1955 debut Goldberg Variations characterize this 1981 remake to strikingly different results. This later version is more deliberate in pacing, stark in expression, thoughtful with ornamentation, and tightly organized (if a mite theatrical) in terms of tempo relationships. Whereas there are no repeats from 1955, Gould now observes "A" section repeats in the canons, the Fughetta, and other fugue-like variations. The rapid, cross- handed sequences still dazzle with pinpointed fingerwork, yet the slower tempos better serve the music's dance-like qualities. Unlike Sony Classical's better sounding Glenn Gould Edition transfer, the original CBS Masterworks CD still has no banding cues. --Jed Distler
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| Customer Reviews:
 Crammed CD - try the DVD instead. August 2, 2008
Max Likely (Victoria, British Columbia Canada)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
The sound on the CD is just as good as my old vinyl recording, but the pauses between tracks are either extremely short or non-existent. This invariably proves irritating. I'm not a sound-engineer so I don't know if there's any way this could have been fixed, at least without turning the recording into a MIDI file, which I would cheerfully purchase for playback on my MIDI piano. But then would it still sound like Glenn at the keyboard? Final opinion? I don't own the DVD version yet but i'd try it, if only for its greater capacity.
 Defective CDs January 19, 2008
Kathleen King
0 out of 6 found this review helpful
I received a defective CD and returned it for another. The second CD was also defective - beware.
 Classic December 27, 2007
Eleanor J. Springer (Tucson, AZ)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I bought this CD for my mother as she could not buy it in any stores. She loves it.
Perfection - Hums and all... July 15, 2007
Mike Mandel (Toronto, Canada)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
One wonders what it takes to impress some people. One reviewer actually said that Gould "possibly wasn't a great pianist"! Who should I believe? Such luminaries as Yehudi Menuhin and Vladimir Ashkenazy who stated "Gould was an idol of mine", or someone who's written a lot of internet reviews and is therefore somehow above world class musicians by default? I agree with the reviewer who stated that it doesn't get any better than this. This is one of the greatest composers and one of the greatest pianists of all time at their absolute best. If the humming distracts you that much, take some Ritalin or learn to focus.
Words cannot decribe it March 20, 2007
Dedonno Jason Enzo
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I love Bach's music, and generally insist on two things; firstly, that it is played a little slower than we are generally served it; and secondly that it is played on traditional instruments. When I first heard Glenn Gould's 1981 recording, I realised how ridiculous that second requirement was, and how important that first requirement was. The music on this album just swept me away. There is no other recording of the Goldberg Variations that I've listened to that even comes close to it.
The technical mastery of Gould goes without saying, but what really struck me with this album was the spirit with which this music is played - the feeling Gould breathes into the work. This is most evident in the opening Aria, which takes you on a journey of the most exquisite emotions. It is played very slowly than any other known recordng. I lack the words to describe it - words like "subliminal", "instropective" bubble to the surface, and above all very human. Bach can be played very mechanically, but not here. Complimented by Gould's ghostly humming, occasionally rising to the level of audibility, Aria sounds like it comes straight from his soul, and allows you to experience a range of extraordinary emotions. It takes you out of yourself. Not once does he use the pedals.
This is just mind-blowing - buy it!
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