Glenn Gould - Otto Friedrich

Few performing artists of this century have been the focus of as much admiration, speculation and criticism as the pianist Glenn Gould. He was a prodigy, performing concerts with major orchestras before his 15th birthday. He was an eccentric, singing along at his own recitals, often appearing in midsummer clad in a heavy overcoat, mittens and scarf. He was a brilliant teacher, author, lecturer and documentary maker. But what truly captured the public's imagination about Glenn Gould was not his fame but his abrupt retreat from it.;Nine years after his 1955 recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations propelled him to unequalled heights of critical and popular acclaim, Gould decided to cease playing for live audiences. While he continued to produce a series of extraordinary recordings until his untimely death from a stroke at the age of 50 in 1982, Gould's fears, contempt for concert halls and obsessive fascination with the possibilities of recording technology ensured that he never performed in public again.