Glenn Gould’s U.S. Television Debut: Bernstein Conducting Bach’s Keyboard Concerto No. 1 in D minor

Performing the first movement of Bach’s Keyboard Concerto No. 1 in D minor, BWV 1052, with Leonard Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic. Gould’s performance begins at 18:03. Originally aired on January 31, 1960 on CBS Television as part of its Ford Presents series, this program was entitled “The Creative Performer.“ The entire show is actually three performances — by Gould, the soprano Eileen Farrell (singing the “Suicidio!“ aria from *La Gioconda*), & Igor Stravinsky (conducting the last three scenes of his ballet *The Firebird*) — punctuated with scintillating musicological lectures by Maestro-Professor Bernstein, who is arguably the star of the show. Though I recommend watching the program in its entirety, here’s a time-stamped playlist, in case you’d like to jump to any given section: 1. Leonard Bernstein, on the vagaries of score notations: 0:00 - 12:56 2. Leonard Bernstein, intro to Gould: 12:57 - 18:02 3. Glenn Gould: 18:03 - 27:08 4. Leonard Bernstein, intro to Farrell: 27:09 - 33:46 5. Eileen Farrell: 33:47 - 38:24 6. Leonard Bernstein, intro to Stravinsky: 38:25 - 40:05 7. Igor Stravinsky: 40:06 - 51:06 8. Closing Credits: 51:07 - 52:24 Thanks go to two intrepid Gouldians who did the heavy lifting to track down, acquire, & beautifully digitize this rare masterpiece. Without them, we wouldn’t be here enjoying it.