Few of us are straight arrows, maintaining a predictable arc throughout our lives. We veer off course, careening at times, before coming to rest at the end of our days. Pianist Glenn Gould's 1955 recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations was the hallmark of a young man, shot from a tightly-strung bow. Insanely fast tempos, wild energy. You could almost call it reckless. But his trajectory changed over the years. His 1981 re-recording of the piece bears little resemblance to the earlier one. We'll sample both recordings today, on what would have been Gould's 80th birthday.
Episode Playlist
Hour 1
Georges Bizet: Nocturne in D
Glenn Gould, piano
Johann Sebastian Bach: Excerpts from the Goldberg Variations, BWV 988
Glenn Gould, piano (1955 recording)
Georges Bizet: Children's Games (Jeux d'Enfants)
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra; Andrew Davis, conductor
Orlando Gibbons: Fantasy in C
Glenn Gould, piano
Richard Strauss: Piano Piece No. 1, Op. 3
Glenn Gould, piano
Johann Sebastian Bach: Third movement from Keyboard Concerto No. 5, BWV 1056
Glenn Gould, piano, the Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Vladimir Golschmann, conductor
Columbia 30th Street Studio, New York City
Johann Sebastian Bach: Excerpts from the Goldberg Variations, BWV 988
Glenn Gould, piano (1981 recording)
Hour 2
Zoltan Kodaly: Three Hungarian Dances
David Oistrakh, violin, Naum Walter, piano
Carl Maria von Weber: Overture to Euryanthe
The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Juraj Valcuha, conductor
The Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Traditional (Arranged by Hankus Netsky): Kol Nidrei (All Vows)
Itzhak Perlman, violin, Yitzchak Meir Helfgot, cantor
Chen Yi: Romance of Hsiao and Ch'in
Jorja Fleezanis, violin, Jeffrey Kahane, piano
Music@Menlo, Atherton, California
Chen Yi: Written on a Rainy Night, from Tang Poems
Chanticleer
Zoltan Kodaly: Summer Evening
The River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, Robert Moody, conductor
Church of St. John the Divine, Houston
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American Public Media’s Performance Today® is America’s most popular classical music radio program and a winner of the 2014 Gabriel Award for artistic achievement. The show is broadcast on hundreds of public radio stations across the country, including at 1 p.m. central weekdays on Minnesota Public Radio. More information about our stations can be found at APM Distribution.
Performance Today® features live concert recordings that can’t be heard anywhere else, highlights from new album releases, and in-studio performances and interviews. Performance Today® is based at the APM studios in St. Paul, Minnesota, but is frequently on the road, with special programs broadcast from festivals and public radio stations around the country. Also, each Wednesday, composer Bruce Adolphe joins host Fred Child for a classical musical game and listener favorite: the Piano Puzzler.
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