Notes:

THE COMPLETE GOLDBERG VARIATIONS 1955 & 1981

Back to back, for the first time

on compact disc — here is the

thrilling 1955 performance of

Bach’s Goldberg Variations that

won the daring, mercurial young

Glenn Gould world fame, paired

with the pianist’s second, vastly

different, recording of the same

piece, which came out only days

before he died in 1982 and is

released here for the first time in

pristine analogue sound. This

newly edited and mastered version

of the 1981 Goldberg Variations

sounds more like the moment of

creation than ever before: Glenn

Gould’s piano playing is more real

and beautiful than any record, tape

or compact disc of the session ever

heard before. A State of Wonder

also contains Glenn Gould’s

legendary final radio interview

(with Pulitzer Prize-winning

music critic Tim Page) — a witty

and incisive 50-minute play-by-

play comparison of the two

recordings — as well as some

precious in-the-studio “outtakes”

from the 1955 sessions, unheard

for almost half a century. A State

of Wonder includes Gould’s own

program notes and many rare

photographs — a treasure for

anybody who loves the piano.