Glenn Gould: On the Record

A fantastic period piece that features the genius pianist Glenn Gould during a recording session at Columbia Records in 1959. The solitary Gould chose to reach his audience through stereo recordings rather than through the stress and strain of the concert world, and this documentary shows in detail this aspect of his life. You can see very clearly why his preference is for the recording studio: Even though most of the recordings were done in only one or two takes, it shows Gould's striving for perfection, much to the distress of the recording engineers.

A wonderful segment shows Gould performing the wonderfully lyric Andante movement of Bach's Italian Concerto, with a soft gentle singing that almost brings tears to your eyes. At the same time, the sound engineers are in the sound booth reading sports section of the New York Times and chatting with each other about what kind of flowers they like to have in their gardens. A wonderful juxtaposition. In another, Gould is racing through the Capriccio of Bach's Partita in C minor. As the camera closes in on his hands, you're amazed to see a band aid on the tips of one of his fingers! It's gritty, real life details like these that makes this documentary shine with realism.