This 1963 Columbia release, with
Glenn Gould's face artfully half lit on the cover, hit its target audience dead center because
Gould's fans, and they were legion at the time, knew exactly what to expect from the Canadian pianist:
Bach performed with uncommon virtuosity and unique insight. And
Gould's fans were not disappointed by this release, the last in his series devoted to the partitas.
Gould's exquisite technique, with its trademark dry attack and détaché touch, illuminates
Bach's counterpoints with absolute accuracy. Each piece alone is arresting -- the delicate Sarabande or the deliberate Minuet from the D major Partita, the pompous Burlesca or the impetuous Scherzo from the A minor Partita -- but the partitas as a whole become cogent large-scale forms in
Gould's capable hands. Captured in Columbia's transparent stereo sound, one can hear every nuance of
Gould's performance, but, thankfully, very little of his irrepressible humming.