V072: Glenn Gould: A Portrait

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CBC Television, VHS (NTSC) (Kultur: 1188) color (1985), 1:45:00.

Contents

Program

Time Visual
0:00 Credits
0:40 GG playing,  photos, voice over
1:42 Interview with GG's father
2:00 Photos, film footage of Toronto
4:09 Scenes of GG's apartment
4:35 GG playing, quote from Karajan
5:05 Stock footage, FF trying out various pianos
5:55 Interview with friend, Nicolas Goldschmidt
7:00 Scenes of family cottage
7:40 Interview with GG's father
8:19 Interview with GG, scenes of him singing to elephants and other animals
9:25 Interview with Goldschmidt, described evening program GG prepared with a singer of Ode to Napoleon and Op. 15, pirated recording
11:19 Scenes of piano and communications technologies
11:50 Interview with Robert Fulford (?), GG's childhood neighbor
12:30 Books from GG's library, including the Stein edition of Schoenberg's letters
12:50 Published books  written by GG
13:15 GG playing piano, photos
13:35 Interview with friend, Margaret Pacsu
14:00 Interview with friend, John Roberts
14:28 Interview with cousin, Jessie Greig
14:37 Footage of recording session (Italian Concerto)
16:00 Emperor Concerto, scenes of Ontario
17:24 GG's father, pictures from GG's childhood
19:00 Interview with Jessie Greig
19:33 GG's father, photos, Jessie Greig
21:00 Robert Fulford, photos, scenes of public schools
23:10 Jessie Greig discussing his writing projects and his pets
25:00 GG's father discussing his affinity for skunks
25:50 John Roberts
26:48 GG in church, playing the organ
28:20 GG at the piano, photos with other musicians
31:15 Interview with John Beckwith, also a student of GG's piano teacher, Alberto Guerero
32:00 Scenes of GG performing Webern Variations
32:40 Interview with Paul Hume, critic for the Washington Post, discussing his first US recital (1955)
34:36 GG's father discussing his Town Hall debut a few days later, film footage
35:50 Goldschmidt discussing GG's fame and modesty
36:30 Photos of Ontario, touring, visit to USSR in 1957
41:20 GG playing with Yehudi Menuhin on television
42:00 John Roberts telling about occasion when GG sightread the Grieg piano concerto
44:10 Robert Fulford on GG as Canadian
45:10 GG conducting, interview with Maureen Forester
45:50 Interview with manager Walter Humberger
46:15 Interview with producer Bruno Monsaingeon
47:30 John Roberts on GG's extra-musical pursuits
48:30 Robert Fulford on GG as recording artist
50:00 More interviews with GG's colleagues, conclusion of Emperor Concerto
52:15 Part Two, scenes of Canada, photos of GG and his apartment
54:50 GG playing, alone on stage
56:50 Scenes of the woods, GG taking a walk, importance of solitude
58:00 GG on the north shore of Lake Superior (Wawa), "the idea of north"
59:10 GG's radio programs, The Idea of North, The Latecomers
1:02:27 GG alone on stage, interview with him
1:03:10 GG playing Ravel, La Valse
1:05:00 GG's fascination with psychiatry, his radio interviews with psychiatrists
1:06:00 Interview with Margaret Pacsu
1:07:00 GG performing skits, "all that glitters is not Gould"
1:08:00 GG's extensive use of the telephone
1:09:30 GG rehearsing on the telephone
1:10:00 Margaret discussing radio program when they programed some Schoenberg songs
1:11:00 GG's interest in Schoenberg, performing the Violin Fantasy, Op. 47 with Menuhin and discussing the piece on television
1:13:20 GG's interest in Richard Strauss, "the greatest musical figure of this century"
1:14:15 Footage of Leopold Stokowski, collaboration with GG
1:16:30 More about GG's radio programs, his interest in iconoclasts and isolated figures
1:17:00 Scenes of Toronto at night, death of GG's mother
1:18:30 Interview with family members, GG's emotional life
1:21:00 GG playing the Goldberg Variations, recording
1:23:45 GG's arrangement of music for The Wars, and for a film about Pablo Casals
1:25:50 John Roberts on GG's pacifism
1:26:30 GG's interest in theology and writing
1:27:25 Interview with Bruno Monsaingeon, made television program of GG performing the Goldberg Variations
1:29:00 Colleagues speculating on GG's conducting talent, discussing his project conducting Wagner's Siegfried Idyll
1:31:00 GG's decision to re-record the Goldberg Variations, desire to create a more cohesive whole
1:33:30 Friends discussing GG's last birthday, his 50th, and his death
1:34:50 Fugue on BACH, GG's last moments
1:37:17 Footage of GG's funeral, aria (with violin obligato) "Erbarme dich" from the St. Mathew Passion, Goldberg Variations
1:40:00 Moving GG's piano out of his apartment
1:41:00 GG's life as a fugue, various scenes of piano and countryside
1:43:17 Credits
1:45:00 End

Credits

Directed and Told by: Eric Till
Editor: Wayne Evans
Produced by: Eric Till and Vincent Tovell

Interviews with: