Search - Glenn Gould - The Alchemist on DVD

Good Stuff for Gould's Fans

BLee | HK | 07/20/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is a rather long DVD with a running time of 157 min. Roughly we have 1/3 of the time with Gould on the piano and the rest are just chats/talks. Whether the chats are interesting depend on how we look at them. On this occasion, Gould is more polite and more pleasing in the sense that he was more aware of the camera and the viewers behind the camera. On the other hand, he is not as candid as he was on Goldberg.In this DVD, we also have a director. So the photography is not as dull as Goldberg and to a certain extent quite artistic, especially when he is on the piano. One of the most appealing sights of this DVD would be his fingerworks as filmed right above his hands: it looks as though the ten fingers were ten little dancers (with Horowitz, we have ten horses racing together).Gould had a way of making the piano sounds more like harpsichord than a modern piano, and that supposedly had something to do with the position he sat himself before the piano making his arms so low. The recording session of the English Suite, other than Gibbons, is one of the best that this DVD has to offer, but that is only an excerpt showing instead what he was seeking in his recording. Fortunately, we have a whole piece of Partita #6, a piece that some would regard as less appealing than his English Suite.As to his chats, for those other than Gould's fans, they would rather the director/producer edite it or trim it making it more compact. But for Gould fans, they sure would long for more whatever they may be. Fortunately, we have a choice: we can select the music programme instead of having to undergo all the chats everytime before we have the music.The "bonus" hasn't any substance at all. Such kind of trial started in the 1930s when a piano teacher tried to film famous pianists' hands to be replayed in normal and slow actions to unveil the "secret" of piano playing in order "to save years of hard practice": a most futile attempt."

Amazing music and inspiring conversations

Rome is Home | Rome, Italy | 12/08/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This DVD is a great work of art. Here you are brought into incredible performances of Bach, Skriabin, Schoenberg, Berg, Webern and more. Even if you are not so familiar with 20th century music, you should get this and listen how also atonality can be incredibly musical and full of emotions. Very few artists can do that with this repertoire and (IMHO) they all owed it to Gould. Musical heaven at its peak, nothing else. The conversations are not too long and are some of the most inspiring music talks I have listen to in my 35 years of making music as a professional musician and a composer. Enjoy!"

The Alchemist- Glenn Gould

William Dagostino | Lakeland, FL USA | 11/16/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I bought 2 copies , one for me and one for my relatives in Alaska, who are also fans of Glenn Gould- we all loved it! Anyone who enjoys the music of Glenn Gould will want this dvd! Bill"