Plays Bach: Two Part Inventions & Three Part Sinfonias

In terms of the music it includes, this set is a great bargain. CD1 contains the Goldberg Variations, as on  Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (The Historic 1955 Debut Recording) . This is Gould's original 1955 recording of the Goldberg Variations, not the second 1981 recording. CD2 contains the Two-Part Inventions and Three-Part Sinfonias, as on  Bach: The Two and Three Part Inventions (Glen Gould Anniversary Edition) . CD3 contains the seven Toccatas BWV 910-916, as on  Bach: 7 Toccatas BWV 910-916 . CD4 and CD5 contain the six Partitas plus a collection of Preludes, Fugues and Fughettas, identical to  Glenn Gould Edition - Bach: Partitas, Preludes & Fugues . CD6 is a duplicate of  Art of the Fugue - 70th Anniversary Edition  with Glenn Gould playing part of the `Art of the Fugue' on organ, and part on piano, but without the very informative liner notes by Michael Stegemann which accompany the single-CD issue.Adding up what is included, this 6-CD collection is priced at about one-third of the cost of the smaller sets included.To read reviews of the music, the reader can refer to reviews of the sets listed above.But be warned: this 6-CD set includes no liner notes whatsoever. The six CD's come in a cardboard box, with each CD in a plastic sleeve (no jewel boxes) - it's very portable. The only information about these recordings is on each of the plastic CD sleeves, listing the tracks and giving the date and location of each recording. There is no discussion of the music. Thus for example, CD1 contains 32 tracks of the Goldberg Variations, recorded June 10, 14-16, 1955 at Columbia 30th Street Studio in New York City, plus two more tracks with two Fugues recorded July 29-31, August 1, 1957.The absence of any liner notes for this collection is surely a cost-cutting move, to save printing costs. But especially given Glenn Gould's propensity to express himself in words (listen to the interview disc in  Glenn Gould: A State of Wonder: The Complete Goldberg Variations (1955 & 1981) : A State Of Wonder , or read the  Glenn Gould Reader ) including writing his own liner notes, this leaves a gap which is regrettable. Suggestion to Sony: please provide DOWNLOADABLE liner notes (no printing cost!), to be downloaded via the Internet!(DGG has done this for the album  Bach, J.S.: Cantatas & Sacred Masterpieces , where the texts of the Cantatas can be downloaded on the Internet).

Essential Bach in Glenn's awesome virtuosity... The '55 Goldberg Variations is the best there is in my opinion if you want to hear technical skills unmatched to date..Two and three part inventions is another beauty. Pay no attention to all the silly comments about Glenn's humming; is mostly unnoticeable unless you want to play "gotcha" and after all, that's Glenn Gould, all of it: the best classical pianist in the last two centuries.

All you two and three part inventions as played by the famous Glenn Gould - here in one group. Great for the student or listener who appreciates the greatness of Bach on the keyboard.

Bach played by Glenn Gould is always my favorite and again it is. Great Bach collection by Glenn Gould.

Glen Gould's humming is loud and distractive. Some of the inventions are played awfully fast. I need to get another interpretation.

Once again you have a definitive recording by Glenn Gould of Bach. Probably the greatest Bach scholar of the 20th century, he makes these works (which are typically ignored by people) to be prestigious. A fantastic recording for any Bach enthusiast.

what can we say? it's glenn, amazing contrapuntal clarity and voicing. on this, no one touches him or comes close..

technbcally the best ever as far as Bach and baroque...

Gould is the man for me. There is no romanticism in his playing, but there is bags of personality, and a technical ability that is shocking.This CD set is incredible. Affordable, smartly presented, and a joy to hear.For me it's (one of) the best companions for working at home alone.

This series of Gould re releases are amazing, the quality of the recordings suggests they may not originally have been intended for release. For example the sound of Gould humming or thumping the the instrument... Bottom line is they are 'of their time' and totally engaging. Price is right too!

Usual Glenn Gould. When it comes to Bach, nobody can beat him.

Love listening to this genius

Superb!