Glenn Gould: The Complete Original Jacket Collection (80 CD box set, APE)

Performer: Glenn Gould
Audio CD
Number of Discs: 80 CD box set
Format: APE (image+cue)
Label: Sony Classics
Size: 13.6 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: covers

Vol.01 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (1955)
Vol.02 Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 30-32 (1956)
Vol.03 Bach: Concerto No. 1 in D minor BWV 1052; Beethoven: Concerto No. 2 in B flat Major Op. 19 (1957)
Vol.04 Bach: Partitas Nos. 5 & 6; Fugues in F-Sharp Minor and E Major (1957)
Vol.05 Haydn: Sonata No. 3 in E-Flat Major; Mozart: Sonata No. 10 in C Major, K.330; Fantasia and Fugue in C Major, K.394 (1958)
Vol.06 Beethoven: Concerto No. 1 in C Major for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 15; Bach: Concerto No. 5 in F Minor For Piano and Orchestra (1958)
Vol.07 Berg: Sonata for Piano, Op. 1; Schoenberg: Three Piano Pieces, Op. 11; Krenek: Sonata No. 3 for Piano, Op. 92, No. 4 (1959)
Vol.08 Beethoven: Concerto No. 3 in C Minor for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 37 (1960)
Vol.09 Gould: String Quartet No. 1 (1960)
Vol.10 Bach: Italian Concerto in F Major & Partita Nos. 1 & 2 (1960)

Vol.11 Brahms: 10 Intermezzi Op. 76, 116, 117, 118, 119 (1961)
Vol.12 Beethoven: Concerto No. 4 in G Major for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 58 (1961)
Vol.13 Bach: The Art of the Fugue, BWV 1080 Volume I Fugues 1-9 (1962)
Vol.14 Mozart: Concerto No. 24 in C Minor for Piano and Orchestra, K. 491; Schoenberg: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 42 (1962)
Vol.15 Strauss: Enoch Arden (Tennyson), Op. 38 (1962)
Vol.16 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, Nos. 1-8 BWV 846-853 (1963)
Vol.17 Bach: Partita No. 3 in A Minor, BWV 827 & No. 4 in D Major, BWV 828, Toccata in E minor, BWV 914 (1963)
Vol.18 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, Nos. 9-16, BWV 854-861 (1964)
Vol.19 Bach: Two and Three Part Inventions and Sinfonias Nos. 1-15, BWV 772-801 (1964)
Vol.20 Beethoven: Sonatas Nos. 5-7, Op. 10/1-3 (1965)

Vol.21 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, Nos. 17-24, BWV 846-869 (1965)
Vol.22 a+b Schoenberg: Songs for Voice and Piano Op. 1, Op. 2 Op. 15 & Solo Piano works Op. 11, 19, 23, 25, Op. 33a & b (1966)
Vol.23 Beethoven: Concerto No. 5 in E-Flat Major for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 73, “Emperor” (1966)
Vol.24 a+b Schoenberg: Fantasy for Violin and Piano Op. 47, Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte Op. 41 et al. (1967)
Vol.25 Beethoven: Sonatas for Piano No. 8-10, Op. 13 “Pathetique”, Op. 14/1 & 2 (1967)
Vol.26 Bach: Keyboard Concertos Nos. 3, 5 & 7, BWV 1054, 1056 & 1058 (1967)
Vol.27 Canadian Music in the XXth Century: Anhalt, Hetu and Morawetz (1967)
Vol.28 Mozart: Piano Sonatas Nos. 1-5, K. 279-283 (1968)
Vol.29 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II, Nos. 1-8, BWV 870-877 (1968)
Vol.30 Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67 (transcribed for Piano by Franz Liszt) (1968)

Vol.31 The Concert Drop-Out . Glenn Gould In Conversation with John McClure (1968)
Vol.32 Scriabin: Sonata No. 3 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 23; Prokofiev: Sonata No. 7 in B-Flat Major, Op. 83 (1969)
Vol.33 Mozart: Piano Sonatas Nos. 6, 7 & 9, K. 284 (205b), 309 (284b) & 311 (284c) (1969)
Vol.34 Bach: Keyboard Concertos, Nos. 2 & 4, BWV 1053 & 1055 (1969)
Vol.35 Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 8, 14 & 23, Op. 13, 27/2 & 57 (1970)
Vol.36 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II, Nos. 9-16, BWV 878-885 (1970)
Vol.37 Beethoven: Variations for Piano, WoO. 80, Op. 34 & 35 (1970)
Vol.38 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II, Nos. 17-24, BWV 886-893 (1971)
Vol.39 A Consort of Musicke Bye William Byrde and Orlando Gibbons (1971)
Vol.40 Mozart: Piano Sonatas Nos. 8, 10, 12 & 13, K. 310 (300d), K. 330 (300h), K. 332 (300k), K. 333 (315c) (1972)

Vol.41 Music from Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five (Original Motion Picture Score) Bach: Piano Concertos Nos. 3 & 5 BWV 1054 & 1056 (1972)
Vol.42 Schoenberg: Songs for Voice and Piano, Op. 3, 6, 12, 14, 48, 2 Lieder Op. post. (1972)
Vol.43 Handel: Suites for Harpsichord, Nos. 1-4, HWV 426-429 (1972)
Vol.44 Grieg: Sonata in E Minor for Piano, Op. 7; Bizet: Premier Nocturne in F Major, Variations Chromatiques (1973)
Vol.45 Bach: French Suites Nos. 1-4, BWV 812-815 (1973)
Vol.46 Mozart: Piano Sonatas, Nos. 11, 15 & 16, K. 331 (300i), K. 533 / K. 494 & K. 545, Fantasia in D Minor, K. 397 (385g) (1973)
Vol.47 Hindemith: Piano Sonatas Nos. 1-3 (1973)
Vol.48 Wagner/Gould: Piano Transcriptions of Wagner Orchestral Showpieces: Die Meistersinger, Gotterdammerung, Siegfried-Idyll (1973)
Vol.49 Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 16-18, Op. 31/1-3 (1973)
Vol.50 Bach: French Suites Nos. 5 & 6, BWV 816 & 817; Overture in the French Style, BWV 831 (1974)

Vol.51 Bach: Sonatas for Viola da Gamba and Harpsichord, Nos. 1-3, BWV 1027-1029 (1974)
Vol.52 Beethoven: Bagatelles, Op. 33 and Op. 126 (1975)
Vol.53 Mozart: Piano Sonatas Nos. 14, 17 & 18, K. 457, K. 570 & K. 576, Fantasia in C Minor, K. 475 (1975)
Vol.54 a+b Hindemith: The Complete Sonatas for Brass and Piano (1976)
Vol.55 a+b Bach: Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord, Nos. 1-6, BWV 1014-1019 (1976)
Vol.56 a+b Bach: English Suites Nos. 1-6, BWV 806-811 (1977)
Vol.57 Sibelius: Sonatinas for Piano, Op. 67/1-3, “Kyllikki”. Three Lyric Pieces for Piano, Op. 41 (1977)
Vol.58 a+b Hindemith: Das Marienleben for Soprano and Piano (1978)
Vol.59 Bach: Toccatas, BWV 910, 912 & 913 (1979)
Vol.60 Bach: Toccatas, BWV 911 & 914-916 (1980)

Vol.61 Bach: Preludes, Fugues and Fughettas BWV 895, 899, 900, 902, 924-938, 952, 953, 961 (1980)
Vol.62 a+b Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 1-3 Op. 2/1-3 & No. 15 Op. 28 (Pastoral) (1980)
Vol.63 a+b Works by Scarlatti, C. P. E. Bach, Gould, Scriabin, Strauss & Beethoven (1980)
Vol.64 a+b Haydn: Six Late Piano Sonatas Hob.XVI/42, 48-52 (1982)
Vol.65 Bach: Goldberg Variations (1981 Digital Recording) (1982)
Vol.66 Brahms: 4 Ballads, Op. 10, 2 Rhapsodies Op. 79 (1983)
Vol.67 Beethoven: Sonatas No. 12, Op. 26 & No. 13, Op. 27/1 (1983)
Vol.68 Strauss: Sonata, Op. 5; 5 Piano Pieces, Op. 3 (1984)
Vol.69 Schumann: Piano Quintet, Op. 44 & Piano Quartet, Op. 47 (1984)
Vol.70 BONUS CD 1: Glenn Gould discusses his performances of the “Goldberg Variations” with Tim Page

Vol.71 BONUS CD 2: Bach: “Italian Album” fragments & Wagner: “Siegfried Idyll”

Superb, often definitive performances; Beautiful presentation; Incredible Value

Frankly, this is unbelievable. This beautiful and huge set of classic classical CDs for this ridiculous price? This can’t last, and I would urge you to go buy this limited edition set RIGHT NOW–before it sells out–then come back and read the remainder of this review.

Glenn Gould is undisputedly one of the great pianists of the recorded era, particularly when performing the works of Bach, and this set basically includes every album he ever released. This is part of Sony’s “Original Jacket” series, which is distinguished by straight reissues of albums originally issued during the vinyl era, in exact (but smaller) replicas of the original issue. Luckily for us, Gould recorded exclusively for Columbia (now Sony), so there were no licensing issues. The mastering here is excellent, and sounds like, essentially, flat transfers of the original recorded programs. Given that Columbia’s classical division was home to many very skilled producers and engineers, a flat transfer is all that is required.

There’s no need to go over the performances here. There is ample documentation of Gould’s life and music on the Web. But one point is worth noting: Unlike most classical pianists, Gould preferred the studio to live performance. As a result, in 1964 he retired from the touring circuit and devoted the remainder of his career to studio performances. That means that his (studio) recorded works represent close to the entirety of his career and that his tremendous reputation is based almost entirely on the music represented on these CDs.

This collection is a must for any fan of Gould (which means almost any fan of classical piano).