Pianist Gould Wore Fingerless Gloves, Hummed on Records: DVDs
Glenn Gould
Sony Music Entertainment/Lorber Films via Bloomberg
Glenn Gould in Canada in 1961. "That nut is a genius," Cleveland Orchestra conductor George Szell once said of the legendary Canadian pianist.
Glenn Gould in Canada in 1961. "That nut is a genius," Cleveland Orchestra conductor George Szell once said of the legendary Canadian pianist. Source: Sony Music Entertainment/Lorber Films via Bloomberg
Cornelia Foss and Glenn Gould
Christopher Foss/Lorber Films via Bloomberg
Cornelia Foss and Glenn Gould on the cruise ship “The R.M.S. Segwun” in Lake Muskoka, Ontario, in June 1968. Foss was Gould's sometime lover.
Cornelia Foss and Glenn Gould on the cruise ship “The R.M.S. Segwun” in Lake Muskoka, Ontario, in June 1968. Foss was Gould's sometime lover. Photographer: Christopher Foss/Lorber Films via Bloomberg
Stan Kenton and Maynard Ferguson
Jazzed Media via Bloomberg
Stan Kenton and his famed jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson. Over the years Kenton featured many star jazz artists, including singers Anita O'Day and June Christy, and saxophonist Art Pepper.
Stan Kenton and his famed jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson. Over the years Kenton featured many star jazz artists, including singers Anita O'Day and June Christy, and saxophonist Art Pepper. Source: Jazzed Media via Bloomberg
Stan Kenton
Jazzed Media via Bloomberg
Stan Kenton was a trailblazing West Coast jazz band conductor who brought Afro-Cuban rhythms and classical motifs to his repertoire. Over the years Kenton featured many star jazz artists.
Stan Kenton was a trailblazing West Coast jazz band conductor who brought Afro-Cuban rhythms and classical motifs to his repertoire. Over the years Kenton featured many star jazz artists. Source: Jazzed Media via Bloomberg
“That nut is a genius,” Cleveland Orchestra conductor George Szell once said of the legendary Canadian pianist Glenn Gould.
Both the wackiness and the brilliance get full play in the Kino film “Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould.”
There have been other documentaries on Gould, including one for the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. that Gould himself wrote and starred in. This one, directed by Michele Hozer and Peter Raymont, is the most comprehensive.
The filmmakers draw on a huge trove of never-before-seen concert footage, private home recordings, photographs, even goofy home movies of Gould cavorting on tropical beaches.
For such an eccentric recluse, Gould, who died in 1982 at the age of 50, was often out and about.
On his eclectic Toronto radio show, he discussed sports, politics and his admiration for singer Petula Clark. He also loved Barbara Streisand and wrote insightfully about her and music in general. Then there were his innovations in recording technology, such as his early experiments with overdubbing.
“I hate audiences,” said Gould, who gave up concerts in the early 1960s while continuing to record in the studio.
Fingerless Gloves
It’s clear from the film that renouncing the concert hall allowed him to communicate directly with his audience without the circus of a staged event. In his studio recordings, you can appreciate Gould’s genius without the distractions of his performing persona -- the gloves with the fingers cut away that he often wore while playing, the piano stool raised a mere 14 inches off the ground, and so on. One eccentricity remains on the recordings: He hums loudly as he plays.
Gould’s debut 1955 album of Bach’s “Goldberg Variations,” recorded when he was 22, has cover photos of the artist in all his blazing charisma. He was the classical music equivalent of James Dean and Marlon Brando, the reigning movie outlaws of the era.
“Genius Within” shows us Gould in recording sessions from that time and contrasts this with his later years, when he seemed worn away by his phobias.
Cornelia Foss, the wife of composer/conductor Lukas Foss and Gould’s sometime lover, says some of the pianist’s fears stemmed from real concerns.
“He didn’t like shaking hands because it aggravated a shoulder injury,” she says in the documentary.
Foss recalls Gould watching his favorite TV show, “Get Smart,” with her young children while at the same time spreading out an entire Bach score on the floor and learning it on the spot by heart.
Now that’s genius.
Jazzy Kenton
Stan Kenton, a founding father of big-band jazz, may seem a world away from the dark intensity of Gould. In his own realm, however, the influential bandleader/pianist was just as innovative.
Graham Carter’s documentary, “Stan Kenton: Artistry in Rhythm,” covers Kenton’s entire career from the late 1930s to his death in 1979 at the age of 67.
Starting in the late ‘40s Kenton pioneered the use of Afro- Cuban rhythms in big-band jazz. In the later “Progressive” era he worked in classical elements that echoed such composers as Darius Milhaud. He also founded jazz-education schools that brought forth an entire generation of jazz artists, including trumpeter Donald Byrd.
The documentary steers clear of some of the controversies in Kenton’s career, particularly the unfounded charge that he favored white musicians.
(Peter Rainer is a critic for Muse, the arts and leisure section of Bloomberg News. Opinions expressed are his own).
To contact the writer responsible for this story: Peter Rainer at Fi1L2E@aol.com
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Manuela Hoelterhoff at mhoelterhoff@bloomberg.net
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