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| |  | DVD-CD-VIDEO | Home » » Bach: The Goldberg Variations 1955 Performance: Zenph Re-performance | | | | | | | Product Promotions: | | | | | Product Details: | | | Audio CD Release Date:
| May 29, 2007 | | Studio:
| Sony Classics | | Composer:
| Bach | | Number Of Discs:
| 1 | | Format:
| Hybrid SACD - DSD | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 44 reviews |
| | | Track Listing: | | | 1. | Aria | | 2. | Variation 1 | | 3. | Variation 2 | | 4. | Variation 3: Canon On The Unison | | 5. | Variation 4 | | 6. | Variation 5 | | 7. | Variation 6: Canon On The Second | | 8. | Variation 7 | | 9. | Variation 8 | | 10. | Variation 9: Canon On The Third | | 11. | Variation 10: Fughetta | | 12. | Variation 11 | | 13. | Variation 12: Canon On The Fourth | | 14. | Variation 13 | | 15. | Variation 14 | | 16. | Variation 15: Canon On The Fifth | | 17. | Variation 16: Ouverture | | 18. | Variation 17 | | 19. | Variation 18: Canon On The Sixth | | 20. | Variation 19 | | 21. | Variation 20 | | 22. | Variation 21: Canon On The Seventh | | 23. | Variation 22: Alla Breve | | 24. | Variation 23 | | 25. | Variation 24: Canon On The Octave | | 26. | Variation 25 | | 27. | Variation 26 | | 28. | Variation 27: Canon On The Ninth | | 29. | Variation 28 | | 30. | Variation 29 | | 31. | Variation 30: Quodlibet | | 32. | Aria Da Capo | | 33. | Aria | | 34. | Variation 1 | | 35. | Variation 2 | | 36. | Variation 3: Canon On The Unison | | 37. | Variation 4 | | 38. | Variation 5 | | 39. | Variation 6: Canon On The Second | | 40. | Variation 7 | | 41. | Variation 8 | | 42. | Variation 9: Canon On The Third | | 43. | Variation 10: Fughetta | | 44. | Variation 11 | | 45. | Variation 12: Canon On The Fourth | | 46. | Variation 13 | | 47. | Variation 14 | | 48. | Variation 15: Canon On The Fifth | | 49. | Variation 16: Ouverture | | 50. | Variation 17 | | 51. | Variation 18: Canon On The Sixth | | 52. | Variation 19 | | 53. | Variation 20 | | 54. | Variation 21: Canon On The Seventh | | 55. | Variation 22: Alla Breve | | 56. | Variation 23 | | 57. | Variation 24: Canon On The Octave | | 58. | Variation 25 | | 59. | Variation 26 | | 60. | Variation 27: Canon On The Ninth | | 61. | Variation 28 | | 62. | Variation 29 | | 63. | Variation 30: Quodlibet | | 64. | Aria Da Capo | |
| | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 44 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
31 of 34 found the following review helpful:
 Amazing ExperienceJun 01, 2007
By NYC
"atravelingreader"
I have lived with this historic recording through all its manisfistations - mono, enhanced mono, remix, digital remix and now Zenph rerecord. The reuslts are just incredible on this new release and Gould himself would have been the first to applaud.
These grumpy people stuck in the past are pains -- they are the same people who screamed when vinyl lp disappeared, still pine away for Milinov and the good old days.
Give yourself a thrill and listen to this disc with headphones - especially the one that simulates Gould's actual left hand- right hand playing - that alone is worht the price of the cd.
17 of 17 found the following review helpful:
Closer to the Original than I ThoughtAug 20, 2007
By John A. Gatchalian
Hi, I am a pianist and piano music fan, and when I read about the new Glenn Gould CD, I felt that I couldn't pass on this one. When I received it in the mail, I opened it and listened to it. The performance sounded wonderful on my headphones. I especially loved the headphone version on tracks 33 through 64, and it made me feel like I was Gould himself behind the piano without his humming or creaky chair in the background. Then I decided to compare this Zenph version to the original 1955 version, but they didn't quite sound the same. The left hand sounded a little too quiet, and the fast and loud variations like 12 and 28 didn't sound aggressive enough. So I did more research on the internet and found out that the original was compressed a bit and in mono. So I decided to compress the Zenph recording on my computer and convert it to mono. I used the headphone version from tracks 33 onwards because it had less reverberation than the first 32 tracks. That way, I could clearly hear any differences in the two recordings. After compressing and downmixing to mono, the new Zenph version matched the original exactly except for slightly more reverberation. The left hand volume increased a bit, and the faster variations sounded more aggressive. So I concluded that this was really how Gould played it in 1955 if the compression was stripped altogether and if the room had more echo.
24 of 27 found the following review helpful:
An achievementMay 30, 2007
By Wangler's Hat
What a spectacular progress in technology. Gould himself would have been much interested in this. It is rightful that Gould, and his Goldberg variation (1955) was chosen as the first project by Zenph. Question remains in whether he would have approved the release or not. In this recording, the definition of each tone is not sharp enough to represent Gould's persistence on precision. If Gould had known that this will come out with this timbre, not with the hard monoral, would he have played according to the same interpretation? On the other hand, one could simply enjoy this as one new version of his Goldberg. It might not have been as apparent if the same technology was applied on pieces like Chopin. In this regard, performance by Cortot (there is a rumor that Zenph is working on Cortot after Gould) might be juicy. In any case, this is definitely a unique achievement that provokes an argument on "the separation of composer, performer, and the audience" that Gould had intended in his time, as well as expectations for further technological advances. Worth a try.
In addition, could somebody reproduce his hum along with the piano performance? Stand-alone performance without the sign of Gould's presence is rather eerie.
12 of 12 found the following review helpful:
Take TwoJun 07, 2007
By G. A. Jacobs
I was skeptical about this enterprise. Why? Wasn't the original enough? In a sense, it was. I consider this a variation on that theme. I think Mr. Gould would have been intrigued himself. The sound on the instrument is wonderful, if not superior to the original mono. The technique is there. The vocalizations aren't(!). A binaural version for headphones is included.
Recommended!
29 of 34 found the following review helpful:
Remarkable and DisturbingJun 06, 2007
By David Miles
"AlienBenefactor"
I grew up listening to this recording, in it's original form, and frankly I wish I could be more critical. I could cite all sorts of references concerning the type of piano and the microphone placement etc... It would make me seem more credible. I could also state the obvious and say that Glenn Gould is not present in this recording. That might make me look even better. The truth is that I find this version of Gould's recorded performance interesting and of value. Not because it somehow replaces the "original" but because it lends, by it's clarity, additional insight into the man's genius without the distractions of a 1950's era recording.
I've been a performing musician for over thirty years (not a pianist and not a stereo enthusiast). To me, all recorded music, regardless of technique, is reproduction. This new technique does not in any way reproduce what a live performance by Gould would have been. But neither does anything else. A live performance is with a real musician on a real instrument in a real concert hall, before a real audience. Anything else is just another reproduction. So as a reproduction, this CD is wonderful. To judge it harshly because it lacks Gould's "presents" is not honest in that he is hardly "present" in any of the other recordings and to compare it to memories of a live performance would be equally unfair. Also unfair, and disrepectful, are the claims that this is in someway a "re-performance". It is not, in the same way as a stereo recording is not. Gould was not at the piano when this was "performed" live. Those who saw this performance did not see a performance by Gould, the simply saw a demonstration of the latest technology of music reproduction.
This recording brings up some disturbing questions: What is it that constitutes a musician's soul? Is it merely the sounds he/she produces or is there something else? Something that can't be defined by either the senses or the intellect? If you have only heard a musician's performances through recordings, have you actually heard them? Could it be that some of us find it difficult to like this recording because it seems to suggest that a person's genius can somehow be reduced to zeros and ones? What about reducing it to analog grooves in a plastic disk? Or punch-holes in a player-piano roll? Each method of reproduction has it's strengths and weaknesses. But none of them is the same as seeing Glen Gould, a young man at the beginning of his career, play this wonderful music. The best we can do is listen to reproductions and use our imaginations. As reproductions go, this one is among the best. As imagination goes, your mileage may vary.
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