Cheap Glenn Gould - The Russian Journey (DVD) (Glenn Gould) Price

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Customer Reviews of Glenn Gould - The Russian Journey

Indispensable for Gould's Fans & A Good Documentary Anyway
This is more a video book than anything else, as there isn't much music here: only a few clips each with only a few phrases. The documentary is seen more from a Russian point of view. Quite right. Glenn Gould went there at the nip of time: they were lost in artistical values then and he was the first American musician to perform there at a time when public performance of Bach was forbidden. Moreover, Russia was so receptive of artists of real talent and of novel things and ideas from outside. Glenn Gould was deservingly a hero in Russia, having made an enormous impact that is still very much alive even today.

In this DVD, we have some clips of Glenn Gould wandering alone in the streets of Russia, perhaps as his translator said, to take in the beauty of the city; and also a depiction of his hotel room in the ambassy plus the concert halls that he performed. Other than that, we have a lot of reviews and comments from the Russian intellectuals who attended his recitals/concerts, including some comments from top Russian musicians like Nikolayeva and even Richter (the latter actually showed up in greeting him), though his comment came only through the mouth of Rosptropovich.

Yes, as a documentary this DVD is interesting enough particularly if you have been to Moscow and St Petersburg before. Glenn Gould was then so young and somuch more vogorous. His interaction withthe camera was very natural too. But if you are looking for music or in-depth analysis , this may not be for you.

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In a word: essential!
Essential for Gould fanatics, among whose numbers I proudly count myself, but recommended for those who enjoy attempts to expose the phenomenon of genius, in any form. I have read about the Russians' response to Gould's visit, the first visit by any Western pianist after the advent of the Cold War, but to watch Russian audiences embrace him, in all his idiosyncratic splendor, was a beautiful thing, as was his acceptance of their approval. All of Gould's behavioral hit parade is on display: the hunching, the humming, the conducting hands, as well as his mufflered, mittened, behatted self. Western critics decried such tics, and were endlessly inventive in finding ways to say "weird" in more journalistic, less pedestrian terms, but the Russians apparently understood that such genius (again, I use the word, there is nothing else for it) does not invite explanation, only wonder, and accepted him without question. Bittersweet, however, were the reminiscences of those who knew him, watched him develop, accompanied him during the trip (in particular, his Russian translator and his longtime manager)--none of whom truly embodied the word "elderly" at the time of taping--because it raises the question of why he died when he was only 50... not the physiological determinants of his demise, but rather the reason we were deprived of him so early. One caution, however: ignore the absurd re-enactments, which feature a brooding Gould lookalike loping along the Moscow streets. Historic in nature, illuminating in scope, this DVD is a must.