Though this daring pianist had little interest in consensus opinion, he is now universally hailed as one of the great Bach interpreters. Gould's recording career is bookended by two striking approaches to the Goldberg Variations: A lightning-fast 1955 debut, and a profoundly ruminative 1981 reconsideration. In between, he tended to other Bach pieces and mostly ignored the Romantics. He also pursued lesser-known early-music composers (like Sweelinck) and untrendy modernists (such as Hindemith and Krenek). You may not always agree with Gould's radical performance choices (or love his humming), but no one can deny the thrilling nature of his technique.