Added: 5 years ago
From: yamyamyams
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  • I like Glenn Gould's renditions of Bach and other baroque era composers. I must also stress the fact I find some of the pianissimo parts in this concert absolutely sublime. What ruins it for me is the cadenza part in the beginning, it does NOT sound fluent and expressive as it should do and (check around 0.15) contains a fair bit of wrong notes. IMHO Glenn Gould is, in this particular part of the piano virtuoso trade, beaten fair and square by the likes of Hanae Nakajima, Artur Rubinstein etc.

  • Glenn Gould was a force of nature. Sad that he died so young, but I get the sense that he lived life absolutely under his own terms. Not too many people can say that.

  • I fear Yamyamyams, who uploaded the 'Emperor' videos may have passed away - he was in his nineties. No activity has been seen on his channel for months. If this is so..... RIP dear Yamyamyams....... you have given us much pleasure. <3

  • lets face it....he was just great :)

  • The "Emperor" was my first classical music eargasm. In the old days, people had to travel for days in dusty, bumpy, bug-infested, horse-drawn coaches to go to a big city to hear a great pianist perform it.

    Today, with the click of a mouse, I am listening to my still-favorite piano piece, played by a planetary legend like Glenn Gould. And even sitting so close I can see those magical hands flying over the keys!

    The awe and gratitude I feel right this minute makes my eyes sting. :-)

  • Great performance right here

  • Thank YOU for the reminder the "NO NOTICE" that Glen did this exquisite Performance in.

    Thank YOU !!!!

  • honestly, the performance is a little too fast. The Brendel/Rattle recording is the gold standard for me.

  • Bravo Glenn Gould - a true gentleman and a wonderful human being. I am so proud he was from my country- Canada. Love you Glenn.

  • 23 dislikes.... HELLO are you wearing earplugs??.... This is nothing short of magnifico!!

  • Fabulous, heavenly, I knew Glenn when he was 20, lived upstairs in Toronto at his Parents. It was sheer Heaven to hear him till 2.00am or later.

    Those if you who critize or tell untrue stories, the man has given us so much in his short 50 years of Life. Enjoy what he has left us with.

    Bless YOU Glenn, I am sure you are sitting next to Beethoven and enjoying each other. C.

  • Every time I watch or even think about this performance I begin to lose my composure. Gould was asked on a Thursday to replace a pianist who had suddenly withdrawn. The televised performance was set for Friday morning. In his book about Gould Otto Friedrich notes: "He canceled a radio show, and sat up most of the night preparing himself. [Gould had not performed the Emperor since recording it with Stokowski four years earlier]."

  • Glenn Gould has a talent which most piano players would like to have; he is able to put his soul into this piece, and his perfect piano playing technique enables a top performance!

  • superb, my favourite piano concerto

  • I could listen to this all day. Thank you for posting this performance.

  • 23 are amateurs ! The conductor, as i watched Wikipédia had survived from Auschwitz death camps, was czech and conducted this Toronto symphonic orchestra from 68 till 73 : his last year of living !

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  • you see some people have soul.....and some are just very good....thanks Glenn.

  • GG chair really looks unconfortable even painful for the butt ! But had a practical side and now rests in his museum !

  • God, Gould's phrasing is immaculate! He understood Beethoven's music so deeply.

  • this is inspiring!

    Why I didn't know about Gould, I have no idea but I missed something.

    I'll catch up and admire his work even though he's not with us anymore.

    Thank you for sharing

  • The length of that piece is absurdity; at least in 2011 ! Guess that Beethoven had nothing else to do two hundred years ago ?

  • @Sylvain894 If you think this is long don't listen to the 9th symphony!

  • @XR4turbo I doubt he's listening, he's undoubtedly gone back to his beloved 4 minute Lady GaGa masterpieces.

  • perhaps THE greatest piece of music ever written!!!

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  • When people listen to Beethoven, their always listen so acutely for 'mistakes' and 'proper' interpretation.

    Who cares? I'd rather hear a genius hit one or two wrong notes and play with insane passion and feeling, than hear someone be a machine. Wrong notes only serve to remind us that music is a living entity, and that no piece is EVER played the same twice. Wake up and enjoy it NOW!

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  • @calico992 Do they, really? That's weird. It's well known that Beethoven was not a note-perfect pianist--an absolute genius, of course, but not necessarily playing "perfect".

    I guess people need to read up on Beethoven.

  • THE BEST "EMPEROR" EVER !! I just adore his uniqueness of ANY piece performed as through "X-ray"..But this ONE... In frame of academic traditions & SO PERFECT !!!!GENIUS MASTER-VIRTUOSO ! TIMELESS MUSICIAN ! TRUE ARTIST ! RIP GLENN GOULD ! Thanks for this MIRACLE !!!!

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  • to bugfire, the orchestra pays no attention to both, but to the music itself.

  • I think that his obsession with his style wasn't always a positive thing. He could have made better music had he not been so adamantly opposed against "standard" interpretations and methods of playing. But whats really amazing is that even with this kind of flaw, he is just leaps and bounds beyond anyone else i've heard on the piano. It's as if he was created just to play the piano. everything about him is just PERFECT and its almost as if he's just fooling around.. it's his only flaw

  • Justin Bieber could do the same with only 1 hand.....

  • @ya6655 OMG shut up!!!! justin beiber couldnt play mary had a little lamb with one hand. u dumb troll. geez!!!! im 12 and im performing the second movement of this next year.

  • Gould se puede decir que casi improvisaba.Su estilo tan particular y la sonoridad tan particular y reconocible dentro de la gran dificultad que entraña,se hace perceptible en casi todo el movimiento.Ejemplo 1.15-1:35 o 2:

    La Orquesta mucho mas convencional,lo acompaña pero da la impresión de estar en otro plano.

  • Super performance by Gould. Rodsinski could have been Toscannini. One mistake. Only.

  • Don't flatter yourself paul. We are the ones who would appear autistic to the likes of Glenn Gould. There is rigorous, focused intellectual thought in every keystroke of this performance, and we mortals can, at best, perceive a dim Platonic shadow of what Glenn has accomplished here.

  • @strukhoff: Not flattering myself. I am a musician, and Gould according to others beside myself did not play with the intense passions of a Brendel or Ashkenazy who interpret Beethoven's intentions as I too see they work "best." You are a fan of Gould. That is fine. I am not and after listening (yet again) to this performance I stand by my views.

  • @paullubliner Not being a fan of Gould is basically the same thing as not being a fan of music. Shame!

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  • To be very frank, to play at this level one must have a measure of autism, WHATEVER it really is. All the greats did and do.

  • @paullubliner Depends what you mean by Autism really. HFA? Asperger syndrome? Non-syndromal autism? Does it matter? And even if it matters, does it matter that it matters? I'd prefer to say GG was a basically a tremendous musician, and a funny, interesting guy, and leave it at that.

  • @centerbark I see you work in the medical field as you list these things so well! Categorizing and naming brain functions/disfunctions does not explain nor solve the situations they create. Tremendous musician? Compared to whom? I say he was overrated and you take umbrage with this statement. You are an "Fan" or more properly fanatic regarding the late Mr. Gould's musical prowess. I do not. I am entitled to my opinions as much as the next one and I give him an honest B- in performance.

  • @centerbark : And yes, the "Autism" whatever any of those labels and terms actually is, does matter. If we understand the functions of the brain as well as the genuinely, hopelessly unknowable "mind," and all of it's truly infinite creative affections, then perhaps we as a species can comprehend musical brilliance as opposed to simply above average (yes, in the statistical use of the term) musical ability as I see this individual's abilities. In other words, sure he's good but not a "Great."

  • @paullubliner I'm not fanatical about anything Paul, I was just a unsure what you meant by your Autism reference.

    Do you know his recording of Bach's Two and Three Part Inventions by any chance?

  • @centerbark: I do not know his recording of this work, but I am quite familiar with it having performed all of them as a twelve year old child on the 'Cello after they were transcribed for string trio as a Bach "Terzetti." This was broadcast over WNYC in the mid 1960's with my chamber music class from Chatham Square Music School where all the students received a complete Classical Musical education on a full scholarship. I will listen to it, thank you.

  • @paullubliner Please do. I am certain these recordings will prompt you to re-evaluate your position on Maestro Gould's art and legacy.

  • @paullubliner And so?

  • Beethoven's gift came from God above, and he used to it to a perhaps greater level than most anyone. I am thankful to our Creator and His Son, for this gift to us!

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  • Glenn Gould did not write his own music- Beethoven did.

  • @octave7 I'm not quite sure what you mean by that, but Glenn Gould, whilst not widely known as a composer, did indeed manage to churn out a few works himself; most notable being his string quartet, some concerto candenzas and So You Want to Write a Fugue? - he was also a prolific arranger of orchestral repertoire for the piano, which included music from Wagner, Strauss and Schubert.

  • @JacobRudduck Hey, I did not realize that at all. I saw the 36 short films of Glenn Gould? I think that was the name of it, but it never even mentioned his writing skills. He somewhat portrayed Gould as a withdrawn, very self absorbed, misunderstood artist.

  • @octave7 Hmm, no you're right there, if i recall it doesn't, plus I personally didn't like the portrayal of Gould in that film, for the very reasons that you mentioned. But he did indeed write some of his own works. I think you can find both the string quartet and So You Want to Write A Fugue? here on Youtube, if you are interested :)

  • @JacobRudduck

    I find that fascinating. I heard Gould's versions of all of The pastoral Symphony movements and he put something wonderful in the music, that was way beyond the sheet music. I had heard several versions, that were difficult to sit through, but not Glenn Goulds. They were all a pleasure and just unbelievable! I dont care what Lizst's and Beethoven's intentions were, Gould transformed the notes into a fascinating piano solo!

  • que faudrait-il ajouter sauf que Gould est un etre merveilleux et qui incarne LE TALENT !!!!

  • For the length of this, about 40 minutes, I remained transfixed. This is my favorite piece of music and was my grandmother's as well...she was born in 1909. The transcendent quality of Beethoven's music united us in mind and soul. Here, Glenn Gould has breathed life into Beethoven's genius and spirit. How anyone could find fault with his performance in their right mind is perplexing to me.

  • It is an event of some import I suppose to get to watch Mr. Gould perform the Emperor- the electricity provided by Gould is rare in any kind of music and is akin to going to Woodstock in '69 or going into orbit after a pipeful of primo or watching your first girl friend striptease- the Emperor itself is the problem not anyones skill-after the 1st and 2nd parts everyone is dead-and the players live on inertia in this reading-on vibes this is the best-and since the sound is old-room must be made-

  • Wow, that was pretty terrible. I know the Gould fanatics will resent that, but it was sloppy, unexpressive and the timing never worked between both parties. He should stick to Bach.

  • @jcastano Okay, you put the late, great Glenn Gould in his place -- well done. Now kindly stop speaking out of the orifice in your rump.

  • @ProtonV8 and you should Kill Yr Idols. 

  • Yes indeed, they are all over him. The hell with the chef. What does he knows anyway.

    :O))

    But seriously, a friend of mine (30 years playing in synphonic orchestras) told me that Aznavour was his life time high light.

    Imagine those guys and gals. Most probably that being on the same set as Gould was their life time high light.

    Lucky buggers they are...

  • the conductor looks like walt disney's pedophile brother. (if he ever had one).

  • And I understand that the low chair was because he had a back injury as a child, and couldn't sit on a piano bench because of the pain in his back.

  • Despite the eccentricities, the humming, the conducting with the conductor, the low chair, he played brilliantly. A true musical genius.

  • It took forever to find a copy of this on CD but I have it and can't stop listening to it. There are things he pulls out in the music that just isn't heard in other interpretations. Beautiful!

  • This is genius!!!

    My school orchestra played this movement to a packed hall of 2000 people perfectly. It was just incredible playing it.

  • The BEST Emperor EVER ! JUST GENIUS !

  • Gould was born to play the piano. In this video we can see a physical genius as well as a musical mind. It is as though God designed Gould to be the perfect piano-playing machine, equipped with a supremely musical brain. GENIUS!

  • Anyone knows what piece the final credits are taken from?

  • M.a.g.i.c.a.l !!!

  • My mind is completely within his performance.

  • he's totally in. Gould, the best.

  • punctual, pastel, plebeian, perfection :)

  • Really beautiful.

  • bravo bravo bravo suprerb

  • Dang! That does it! No matter what I do, can't make The Emperor sound anything close to this. I'm gonna get me a folding chair, paint it black, cut off the legs, and rip up the seat!

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  • @TheOtherMusicMan Ha! Ha! Ha! ;-D You just gave me the best "laugh" of my day today:

    ~~ " I'm gonna get me a folding chair, paint it black, cut off the legs, and rip up the seat!" ~~

    (OMG! That was just 'precious' -- loved it)!! Thank you for the giggles!!! ;-D (¯`*•.¸ ♫♪♫♪¸.•*´¯) (¯`*•.¸ ♫♪♫♪¸.•*´¯) (¯`*•.¸ ♫♪♫♪¸.•*´¯) ;-D

    (I'm still laughing)! ;-D ;-D ;-D (And, with his great sense of humor; GG probably is too...from his piano chair in Heaven)!!! ;-)

  • AMAZING!!!!!!!!! So breath-taking! I could watch this again and again every single day!!!!!!!!

  • For me interpretation is the essential of art and this has it in spades. I just prefer this to all the more classical renditions - it actually "rocks"

  • He has such unparalleled control!

  • Until today I had no idea that Glenn Gould was recorded doing The Emperor Concerto. Thank you for this! Amazingly fresh interpretation.

  • straight beast mode

  • And to think some people say that machines are being made more complex than the human brain- never will this happen, as if i was to see a machine either compose or play this, ill eat my hat.

  • very unusal sitting on a CHAIR . god bless you glenn...you can do it. and always will.

  • @cirosuperiore Gould sat on a chair because he partially broke his back diving, and so the chair was made by his father.

  • Beethoven is not in heaven

  • Ah! Who doesn't love Beethoven? Who cannot help but love Gouldmeister?

    Remember Dreyfus in The Competition with Amy Irving? This is just pure sweet delight!  Thank you for making this available.

  • I think that Schubert may have (subconsciously?) borrowed the idea of his trout theme from this movement. Awe inspiring genius.

  • The beginnings of the blues--question and answer.

  • Glenn Gould to geniusz! Niedawno go odkryłem. Słucham i jestem w niebie.

    Fantastic. I love Glenn Gould, Bach, Beethoven... I'm in heaven.

  • un exelente concierto para piano el interprete es muy bueno y el concierto exelente =)

  • Impresionante.. lo mejor que he visto para piano!

  • Too bad that orchestra is no match for him.

  • True Genious

  • :')

  • I can only thank you for posting this wonderful performance.

  • There is no substitute of him.

  • Glenn Gould must be the reincarnation of either Beethoven or Bach... returned to show us how their music should be played. God bless you forever Glenn in whatever heaven you may be.

  • @oldbaxter Glenn Gould was a relative of Edvard Grieg, the most famous composer of Norway.

  • @oldbaxter its really !

  • Glenn Gould ... fora do comum. Fenomenal!

  • Excelente! G.G. foi sempre brilhante...

  • Gould is being controlled by Beethoven from the heavens, he's totlaly in the zone.

    I love it, this is one of the best things i've seen .

  • @abottwhite YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • he's very interesting to watch. lol

  • this version of the emperor concerto is the most controlled played...every move and every fingering, are well thought and performed by GG. here we see again that GG was a great technician and musician at the same. he had certain opinions about certain composers, and didnt play everything, one said he talks so, because he can´t play this and that. here we see that, this view was incorrect.this pianist, had the most controlled fingers.

  • unless I heard pieces side-by-side I wouldn't know the difference. This concerto is my favorite and this last part is my favorite part.

  • I hear quite a few people criticize Gould for his idiosyncratic (eccentric?) interpretations of Bach and Beethoven, but I have a feeling that if we could go back in time and have Bach or Beethoven hear Gould play their pieces, they would both shout "Bravo!"

  • Bravo!

  • A valid point, I am convinced you are correct.

  • You are my Hero! ,Glenn!

  • My goodness, what stamina he had. Beautiful sound. It must be hard to play with his wrist like that and sitting so low.

  • The chair was made for him by his dad. He always played piano sitting in that chair. It does look uncomfortable, but he wouldn't play any other way.

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  • The chair was made by his father after he suffered a back injury while diving, it allows him to sit comfortably.

  • Can you imagine spending an evening with the divine Mr. Gould, and Ludwig van Beethoven??

  • Can you imagine ? That is an amazing thought. What a wonderful evening that wou be!!!

  • They are in heaven playing by God's side :) man can't wait to get there one day. Now I know why they say it's God's paradise.

  • Sometimes, you dont know if hes conducting or if the conductor is conducting. glenn gould adds alot of emotions in to hiim playin. he is the conductor of his playing. bravo. (Y)

  • this is great.

  • Sometimes I wonder if the orchestra is watching Glenn or the guy with the baton.

  • @buggfire The guy with the baton looks like a young Toscanini

  • @buggfire "The Guy with the baton" is Karel Ancerl one of the greatest conductor of XXth century and it's an honour for Glenn Gould to make music with him and Toronton orchestra !

  • @pianotonton

    Well Karel Ancerl was a good conductor, but not one of the greatest.

    This performance is one of the best because of Glenn Gould, although the conductor and the orchestra are good (but not top 10).

  • It's like everything around him is x10 slower!!

  • Great tone. He didnt any of the concerto in 4 years.

  • I watched 0:35 to 0:50 over and over again. It is just amazing!

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  • This is beautiul but not the best part of the piece.

  • Thanks so much.

  • is that superior white bread?

  • Was it a Steinway or Bosendorfer ?

  • A steinway I think,look at 3:00,the logo is visible...

  • The conductor is Karel Ančerl.

  • I think Gould found a good balance between musicality and control... It shows his absolute respect for the composers.Some people say Gould plays without emotion.I disagree,he's everytime emotionally involved but without forgetting the technical aspects of the piece.He's more subtle than other pianists exagerating the crescendo'setc. to make you believe they understand the essence of the piece.They are playing with false emotions.I prefer by far the humble interpretations of Gould.

  • TOSCANINNI GOOD GOD.

  • The piano player looks like John Travolta.

  • Wrong.

    John Travolta looks like that piano player.

  • I've heard lots of Emperor's, shed tears of joy and exaltation, but to see this guy, this legend, before my eyes, from the past, brings it to life so much that I feel invigorated and suffused with life. It was a privilege to experience the genius of Glenn Gould. Thank you to the poster yamyamyams, a tue philanthropist.

  • Thank you, yam. I nearly fell off my chair when this came on My heart is still pounding,..

  • totally in 'the zone'  Thank you yam!

  • If anyone could identify the piece played at the end (7:59 - 8:35 during the credits) you'd have several people in your debt. Please help.

  • One of Beethoven's Bagatelles maybe?

  • Bagatelle no 3 op 126 , I am sure now.

  • yep you're right... pretty slow tempo by the way...

  • Glenn would be pleased to know that his electronic predictions have come to pass and a listener is sitting in bed past midnight watching him play on youtube.

  • Fantastisch !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Every time I watch or even think about this performance I begin to lose my composure. Gould was asked on a Thursday to replace a pianist who had suddenly withdrawn. The televised performance was set for Friday morning. In his book about Gould Otto Friedrich notes: "He canceled a radio show, and sat up most of the night preparing himself. [Gould had not performed the Emperor since recording it with Stokowski four years earlier]."

  • Ludwig would have been so pleased,great .

  • Why the hell is it disrespectful? It implies intimacy when someone calls you by your first name. And it is possible to feel very close to Ludwig after listening to his put his soul musically on paper.

  • Beautiful! This is my favorite piece.

  • Fantastic. Glenn Gould defenitely was eccentric to say the least, however, his master of the keyboard and emotion of playing made him one of the few truely masterful pianists of the last 150 years.

  • Totalmente de acuerdo.

  • glenn gould is so amazing!!!!

  • Bravo! I'm speechless. I am without speech.

  • there are no cuts or edits, they got it right the first time

  • I wish there was a rough cut of this footage somewhere. Would the National Archieves have copies? Glen Gould is so fun to watch!

    Notice that he does not have sheet music. This is all from memory. Tempo, key, note, committed to memory.

    Genious.

    But I'd rather watch his play style than the cuts and edits to the trombonist or even the conductor.

    One can dream, right?

  • "Notice that he does not have sheet music. This is all from memory. Tempo, key, note, committed to memory."

    Of course.

    No famous artist uses sheets.

    Of course.

    That must be the reason, the conductor got not very famous.

    He is using sheets... ;-))

  • not true

    richter used sheet music a lot due to faulty hearing

    and he is one of the most famous pianists

    and genius in his own right

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  • Dazzling to the end. Music making doesn't get greater than this.

  • Gould not only plays superbly, but he's fun to watch too. He was quite eccentric: he hummed constantly when he played, insisted on using only one particular chair (one his father had made) to sit in while performing, and he always sat rather low to the keyboard at a height of 14 inches above the floor. Strange, but nonetheless, that formula seem to work well for him.

  • 皇帝の華やかな高貴な感じが出ている、と思う。

    輝かしさが感じられる。ベートーベンの強さもうまく表現されてい­る。歌わせ方が特にこの楽章はうまいと思う。変化が多くて難しそ­うだ。ピアノとオーケストラの掛け合いが非常にうまい。トレモロ­が輝かしい。グールド氏の手腕がすごく、圧倒される。

  • What's the orchestra and recording date? Is this performance available on CD?

  • A bit hard to read it, but I believe the copyright at the end of the clip credits reads 1970. Probably available on CD somewhere if you Google it.

  • I do not think this recording was released commercially, however the same concerto is available by Gould with Stokowski conducting, which is the one I prefer over this one anyways. Not to mention you get two legends in the same recording.

  • in the end, he is playing another piece, somebody know the name of this piece?

  • It is Beethoven's Bagatelle No.3 Op.126, played by Gould found in youtube as weel.