Glenn Gould: A Portrait (1985) 4/12

Of all the films, documentaries and retrospectives I've seen on Glenn Gould, this one is my favorite. It was written, directed, and narrated by Vincent Tovell and Eric Till.

That this documentary is out-of-print is a crime. (Anyone from the CBC listening?) As far as I know, this film is unavailable for viewing anywhere online (except here).

One of the things that makes this documentary so wonderful is that it was made only three short years after Glenn's untimely death in 1982 at age 50. The love and the pain on the faces and in the voices of all the interviewees, especially his dear cousin, Jesse Greig, is palpable.

If you've seen "32 Short Films on Glenn Gould," you'll notice that it "borrowed" heavily from this documentary. (It seems to me that François Girard lifted entire segments.) I enjoyed the film; I prefer the documentary.

I apologize for the crappy video and audio quality. I ripped this straight from an old VHS tape, using One Touch Video Capture. It's the best I could do. I guess sometimes you just can't keep that creaky chair from creaking.

May Glenn Gould forgive me.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Glenn
• Gould
• Portrait
• CBC
• Documentary
• Biography
• Canadian
• Pianist
• Toronto
• Bach
• Wagner
• Strauss
• Schoenberg
• Radio
• Solitude
• Bernstein
• Stokowski
• Bruno
• Monsaingeon
• Yehudi
• Menuhin

[JohnEBPiano]

Best Glenn Gould documentary of all time? Sure, but they get points off for the floating heads.

[erp65]

@JohnEBPiano - Did I say "Best Glenn Gould documentary of all time"? -- a statement of monumental pomposity? I believe my exact words were "this one is my favorite" -- a statement not up for debate.

[theoryjoe]

I have to find to full video of that Prokofiev. Any ideas where it could be?

[JohnEBPiano]

@erp65 Wow. What an odd response to such a benign, jocular comment. I'm so sorry I mixed up your words, but it was just meant as a little joke about the floating heads..

[OzzyKingofKings]

@ettml Oh goodness, indeed it is! I've not heard the piece before, but I think it (at least this clip of it's finale) sounds very Mendelssohn-esque.

Incidentally, do you know whether or not the complete performance has been released on any kind of sound recording? I'd love to get my hands on it...

[erp65]

Eureka! Thanks, ettml.

[ettml]

@OzzyKingofKings it's weber konzertstuck

[OzzyKingofKings]

Knowing myself, it'll probably hit me some weeks later when I'm doing something completely unrelated to music. I *know* I've heard it...

If/When it does happen, I simply must get my hands on that live Gould; the playing is incandescent!

[erp65]

Back to the drawing board, then. Someone will hop on here eventually and dispel the mystery.

[OzzyKingofKings]

No; it's definitely not that particular work. I know it very well, and I don't think Gould recorded it at all.

The piece sounds almost "classical;" I'd hazard a guess at Mendelssohn or Mozart or something in that vein

[erp65]

My best guess is: Rachmaninov's "Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini."

Don't know if Gould ever performed or recorded it, but he did write about his distaste for the bulk of Rachmaninov's compositions, the Rhapsody being one of the few he admired.