Tags
Summary
Editor's review
Rattalino's writing is itself musical; the chapters unfold their themes like a fugue and then set them in dialogue. He astutely observes that Gould's pursuit of the "perfect interpretation" is essentially Platonic—an attempt to transcend bodily limits and reach the musical noumenon in the realm of ideas. This analysis lifts the book beyond ordinary fandom literature into a profound discussion of art, technology, and modernity. Its detailed analyses of Gould's playing (such as the comparison of his two recordings of Bach's Goldberg Variations) display professional music-critical rigor, while its treatment of his reclusive temperament and drug dependence maintains scholarly restraint and humanistic care.
For Chinese readers, the Shanghai Music Publishing House edition is reliably translated, and its annotations fully preserve the original's scholarly apparatus. The book demands some grounding in classical music, but it repays readers with fresh thinking on fundamental questions: what is performance, what is listening. Rediscovering Gould in the streaming era is timely—he foresaw our present listening environment and offered an aesthetic resistance to mediocrity.
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Music lovers and scholars with a strong interest in twentieth-century classical music history, especially the history of piano performance
- Readers drawn to the psychology of artists and eager to understand genius and solitude, perfectionism and self-destruction
- Researchers in media theory and philosophy of technology—Gould's reflections on recording technology are a valuable early case study in media studies
- Advanced piano students, who can draw from Gould's performance philosophy inspiration to overturn convention
Not a good fit for
- Casual readers seeking light, entertaining celebrity biography and curious anecdotes
- Complete beginners unfamiliar with classical music and lacking basic terminology
Reading tips
- Begin by listening to Gould's 1955 and 1981 recordings of the Goldberg Variations to establish an aural impression
- While reading, consult Gould's documentaries or interviews to sense the tension between the written description and the real personality
- If the musical-analysis sections involve unfamiliar technical terms, skip them for now and return after grasping the overall argument
About the publisher
Shanghai Music Publishing House focuses on music and dance books and textbooks, with a brand identity built around piano literature and music classics. Its catalogue of about 592 titles includes categories such as film and television and theory. Representative works include the Norton series on music history by period—Twentieth-Century Music, Romantic Music, Classical Music and Baroque Music—as well as Feinberg on the Art of Piano Playing, A History of European Music and Beethoven's Symphonies: An Artistic Vision. Its contributors include authors and scholars such as Philip Downs, Leon Plantinga, Robert Morgan and Richard Hoppin, along with translators and scholars Liu Danni, Chen Hongduo, Gan Fangmeng and Liang Qing. The press emphasizes translations of Western music scholarship while also supporting Chinese-language writing on music history and theory, giving its list a core strength in period histories, style histories and performance art; public information on other areas is limited.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 格伦·古尔德 魔法师
- 第一章 魔法师
- 第二章 历史的疑雾
- 第三章 启蒙岁月
- 第四章 异类
- 第五章 风格形成的基础
- 第六章 《哥德堡变奏曲》
- 第七章 旅行演出
- 第八章 曲目选择
- 第九章 倒叙（之一）
- 第十章 倒叙（之二）
- 第十一章 创作，或关于不朽
- 第十二章 彼得·潘综合征
- 第十三章 “……一种秋天似的宁静……”
- 注解
- 曲目总表
- 唱片信息与录像资料
- 采访与对话
- 广播节目（纪录片、广播剧等）
- 录像
- 唱片标签目录
- 地名目录
- 音乐家目录
- 弦乐四重奏目录
- 交响乐队目录
FAQ
How much musical knowledge is needed to understand this book?
How does this book differ from other sources such as The Glenn Gould Reader?
How does the book view Gould's decision to abandon the stage?
Comments
Find this book
This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.
About the author
Piero Rattalino is an author known for writing biographies of pianists. Public information about him is limited, and his nationality, dates of birth and death, and educational background are not clearly documented. Thirteen of his works are held in the collection, most notably the twelve-volume series Great Pianists, along with dedicated biographies of Horowitz, Gould, Rachmaninoff, Brendel, Rubinstein, Michelangeli, and Backhaus. These works are generally classified under general biography, with some touching on theory and film and television, reflecting the author's sustained attention to the twentieth-century piano performance tradition. Rattalino's writing focuses on the lives, artistic styles, and recorded legacies of his subjects. Aimed at general music readers, it is plain in language and combines historical sources with anecdotes, offering Chinese readers an accessible and systematic introduction to the history of piano performance.
Lu Xinyun is a Chinese book author about whom public information is limited; her writing centers on the lives and art of Western classical musicians. Six of her works are held in the collection, most notably the twelve-volume "Great Pianists" series, alongside separate biographies of pianists such as Glenn Gould, Rachmaninoff, Brendel, Michelangeli, and Paderewski. Classified mainly under general biography and film and television, these works show an author skilled at tracing musicians' life stories and performing styles through biography. Based on the available material, Lu Xinyun's writing emphasizes the integration of historical sources and character portrayal, aimed at general readers interested in classical music and piano art. Through a volume-by-volume format she introduces the artistic profiles of different pianists in a fairly systematic way, making an ongoing contribution to popularizing musical biography.
