Up close and personal with Glenn Gould

A film has been made of the personal side of Canadian pianist Glenn Gould:

During his lifetime Gould was often portrayed less as a real person than a collection of tics — perhaps even more so in the many books and films about him that have been issued since his death. At times he has seemed like the Howard Hughes of classical music: a pill-popping hypochondriac who wore gloves, a scarf, overcoat and flat cap even at the height of summer, and who was so averse to physical contact that ordinarily he wouldn’t even shake hands.

“We wanted to break through that stereotype and find the real Glenn Gould,” Mr. Raymont said. “We wanted to find what he was really like. We wanted to try to see if we could get through to that inner life, that secret person that he and his friends hadn’t really been eager or even willing to share with the world.”

Larry Rohter, “Seeking the Ordinary in the Eccentric”, The New York Times, 1 September 2010.

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