Glenn Gould plays Bach: The Question of Instrument (Bruno Monsaingeon, 1982) VO

he great director, violinist, and writer Bruno Monsaingeon brings us a captivating three-part series with the legendary pianist Glenn Gould. Over 15 years after retiring from the concert stage, Gould returns to the repertoire for which he is still so widely known and celebrated today: the keyboard works of Johann Sebastian Bach. Fascinating discussions between the pianist and the documentarian are punctuated by performances given by Gould between 1979 and 1981. This inaugural episode focuses on Bach’s late masterpiece The Art of Fugue, the apotheosis of the composer’s contrapuntal genius, illustrated in numerous examples at the piano. Monsaingeon’s profound knowledge, passion, and expertise make this much more than a simple interview: it is an exchange to treasure between two major musical personalities about a monument of the repertoire.