Volume 51, Number 15 · October 7, 2004
Lone Star
By Michael Kimmelman
Wondrous Strange: The Life and Art of Glenn Gould
by Kevin Bazzana
Oxford University Press, 528 pp., $35.00
Among classical performers of the last half-century, only perhaps Arturo Tos- canini, Vladimir Horowitz, and Maria Callas were the subjects of as much adulation, controversy, and speculation as Glenn Gould. Even so, Gould's popularity was different. He was part of a new era, and addressed a new audience. Coming along at a time when music conservatories and piano contests were producing increasing numbers of pianists of indistinguishable proficiency and uniform style, Gould seemed both to produce his own unique sound and also to appeal to a new audience of listeners. Claiming a taste for his playing, like the fashion for Marshall McLuhan or for semiotics, became a sign of sophistication during the 1960s and 1970s.
Review, 5073 words
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