[f_minor] In The Year Of The Water Dragon

Thu Feb 17 17:45:33 EST 2011

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6YnkAQg0lY

Not even 1,000 'views' for an original Gould composition.

"I for one am convinced that a platoon of audio and video 
engineers is frantically working day and night cleaning, editing and rendering 
GG’s audiovisual legacy for a deluxe 12 DVD Box Set with tons of extras and 
previously unreleased material and a thick booklet for a release in 2012 and the 
CBC throwing in a few CDs with material previously unavailable in this format. 
Please tell me I am not hallucinating."

 You asked. I said I think you are. I still do.

"It would indeed be a crying shame if September 2012 passes by 
without any release of GG material on DVD whatsoever. I for one would be stunned 
and very dissapointed indeed having imagined things that did not come true. In 
any case nobody will talk about GW by then."

 I think that there probably will be some release of something in 2012 and I personally hope the releases will come from the CBC because they are sitting on the long-time-no-see 'motherload'. I hope that the CBC is ready to release the complete tv performances (45+ years after the fact) that have been hacked to pieces in "Life and Times", the "GG Collection" and "Hereafter". The fact that three CBC properties have been pulled from UBU Web isn't particularly indicative of anything $$$ wise (the Pet Clark radio program is still available on the Net as you well know - just not on UBU anymore and there are long CBC radio interviews of GG still available on youtube). Glenn Gould isn't Michael Jackson or Jagger/Richards in terms of revenue. I doubt that GG even comes close to Bernstein or Koopman or Karajan, Barenboim or Perahia or perhaps even Mlle. Hewitt (when adjusted for inflation) in terms of revenue...and Lang Lang? I'd love to see some stats if anybody's got decent ones. Of course the GG Foundation is doing its best to ensure that Dudamel outsells them all, adjusted for INFLATION...

 "In any case nobody will talk about GW by then." Why isn't 'anyone' talking about On and Off The Record and The Alchemist now? (As you can surmise I tend to favour two films where the subject was actually present). GG and fans needed a film such as GW like a cat needs a second tail. I'd be curious to know if GG music/video sales got a GW bump, since we seem to be talking about cash cows and monetary harvests.

Mary              

From: pzumst at bluewin.ch
To: f_minor at glenngould.org
Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2011 13:15:01 +0100
Subject: [f_minor] In The Year Of The Water Dragon

G’day all

It would indeed be a crying shame if September 2012 passes by 
without any release of GG material on DVD whatsoever. I for one would be stunned 
and very dissapointed indeed having imagined things that did not come true. In 
any case nobody will talk about GW by then.

I for one am convinced that a platoon of audio and video 
engineers is frantically working day and night cleaning, editing and rendering 
GG’s audiovisual legacy for a deluxe 12 DVD Box Set with tons of extras and 
previously unreleased material and a thick booklet for a release in 2012 and the 
CBC throwing in a few CDs with material previously unavailable in this format. 
Please tell me I am not hallucinating.

Money
Bob mentioned it already, GG is still a cash cow for Sony/CBC, 
no matter what. For the wrong reasons and the false image of GG that people 
still have he is still selling. Aren’t people getting a bit sick of streamlined 
artists with a predictable repertoire these days ? Isn’t this one of the reasons 
we are here ?

The CBC pulled some of GG’s radio features off ubuweb because 
they are looking at “a potential loss of thousands of dollars”. There will be 
radio programs to celebrate the occasion and I doubt that the CBC will let the 
opportunity pass to have a look at the vaults to see what might be 
sellable.

Prestige
GG is the most famous classical musician of his native country 
, there will be celebrations, no doubt about that. And the interested public 
would want to buy what is on offer. Books, CDs and DVDs galore. The people in 
charge of GG’s legacy will not let that opportunity pass to cash in. 
Unfortunetly there will be myth-making and not much debunking and GG would be 
horrified by some of the things the talking heads will have to say about him but 
sadly this is part of the game. Can you imagine the pouring of ridicule of 
critics and fans over the heads of the people in charge who grandly celebrate 
his 80th but no complementary product in sight ? Heck, there would be reckoning 
!

Reputation
I am contradicting myself here a bit but apart from the 
Original Jacket Box Sony had a pretty bad track record of good new GG releases, 
especially on DVD. The only DVD currently on sale by Sony in Germany are the ‘81 
Goldbergs. High time to bring GG’s visual legacy to the 21st century. They 
simply cannot afford to ignore the fact that here we have a performer who was 
keen on his TV appearences and an interest in new technology for his own use. 
GG’s TV broadcasts unavailable in 2012 is absolutely unthinkable, unless Sony 
wants to loose its reputation as self-proclaimed Guardian of GG’s 
legacy.

Demographics
The demographics of record buyers have changed. The times 
where an artist will sell millions of records in just weeks are over. Record 
companies need to reorient and ajust to a new demographic. A new category has 
sprung up which will be the ideal POS for GG products: The 50 quid man. 
Well-educated wealthy people between 40-early 60s who will cough up at least 50 
quid at the cash register during their rare visits to a record store. This 
includes the classical crowd in general and a GG target audience in particular. 
Record companies are well advised to serve a wealthy niche these days. Record 
labels like Rhino found that out years ago, they are doing well, get brilliant 
reviews and are loved by fans and collectors alike.

So therefore I am convinced that in a top-secret underground 
facility in Cape Dorset audio and video wizards of prime rank are busy preparing 
an audiovisual GG feast to blow us all away ! Mary, any counter-arguments 
?

Pat

From: maryellen jensen 
Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2011 11:47 PM
To: f_minor at glenngould.org 
Subject: Re: [f_minor] Genius Within DVD for 
Europe

Pat,

Hardly 
anything at all of any substance has been said about Genius Within (how does one 
wrestle with jello anyway?) and I would say that you are hallucinating. 

Michael Macelletti: I second your sincere outcry for all your reasons 
and perhaps a few more to boot. 

Mary

From: pzumst at bluewin.ch
To: f_minor at glenngould.org
Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2011 
20:24:42 +0100
Subject: [f_minor] Genius Within DVD for Europe

Dear f_minor

By now all that had to be said about Genius Within by those 
who have seen it has been said I reckon with the conclusion that the definitve 
documentary about GG has yet to be made.

Just for the record and in fairness to tthose who have not 
seen it yet a Code 2 version (Europe) on both DVD and Blu-Ray should be released 
on March 28th.  

Contrary to the North American version this one will only be 
108 Mins, no word on extra features as of yet.

DVD Pre-Order info found at amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Genius-Within-DVD-Glenn-Gould/dp/B00450AFT2/ref=sr_1_2?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1297881707&sr=1-2

Blu-Ray version: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Genius-Within-Inner-Glenn-Blu-ray/dp/B004HZ5IGU/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1297881707&sr=1-1

I for one am convinced that a platoon of audio and video 
engineers is frantically working day and night cleaning, editing and rendering 
GG’s audiovisual legacy for a deluxe 12 DVD Box Set with tons of extras and 
previously unreleased material and a thick booklet for a release in 2012 and the 
CBC throwing in a few CDs with material previously unavailable in this format. 
Please tell me I am not hallucinating.

Pat

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://ff0.org/pipermail/f_minor/attachments/20110217/4e4984a7/attachment.html>