Glenn Gould’s life at the keyboard

It was 25 years ago last month that Glenn Gould succumbed to a stroke in a Toronto hospital, scarcely more than a week after he had turned 50. But the legacy of this iconoclastic pianist continues to grow. The latest additions include a limited-edition, 78-CD compilation from Sony Classical of all his recordings, titled “Glenn Gould: The Complete Jacket Collection,” and from Firefly Books in Canada, “Glenn Gould: A Life in Pictures,” a collection of more than 200 black-and-white photographs that charts his life’s trajectory: from giggling infant to glamorous concert artist to overcoat-clad recluse.

The book has a foreword by cellist Yo-Yo Ma, an introduction by critic Tim Page and, as this sampling of photos attests, an arresting vividness. As Page writes, “if Gould could not cheat the grave, he has, in some profound and personal way, transcended time, for he remains a vital -- indeed essential -- musical presence all these years later, in some ways more central to our experience now than when he was alive.”