The Goldberg Variations

Forty years ago, on September 2, 1982 – the year of Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Steven Spielberg’s E.T. – Glenn Gould’s legendary second recording of the Goldberg Variations closed a circle that his revolutionary 1956 recording of Bach’s masterpiece had opened. While his first recording is the exuberant, fast-paced work of a 22-year-old pianistic prodigy, his second is the measured, richly detailed interpretation of an experienced studio artist. Just five weeks later, the Canadian pianist died unexpectedly, leaving the world a masterpiece of recording art that – awarded two GRAMMYs – is still one of the most listened to classical albums worldwide.

Bach's Goldberg Variations have become quite popular over the past few decades. They have been played on the harpsichord, piano and other keyboard instruments, by string ensembles and orchestra. They have been presented as exercises and accomplished concert masterpieces. They have been interpreted as austere period works and treated as dry architectural marvels…

Uri Caine - The Goldberg Variations (2000) {2CD Winter & Winter 910 054-2 rec 1999-2000}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 768 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 362 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 48 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2000 Winter & Winter | 910 054-2
Jazz / Classical / Modern Creative / Avant-Garde Jazz / Baroque / Post Modern / Turntables / Electronic

In the 21st century, it's easy to take technology for granted and forget that in the time of Johann Sebastian Bach (b. 1685, d. 1750), there were no cars, busses, airplanes, TVs, radios, movies, tape recorders, electric lights, or computers. People used candles to light their homes, and horses were the fastest way to get around. There were excellent plays and opinionated theater critics to review them, but no cameras to film the actors and actresses. Recording technology had yet to be invented, so the only way to hear classical musicians was to hear them performing live. Although the classical artists of Bach's time could not be recorded, they left behind their compositions, and today's classical musicians continue to keep them alive.

The 19th-century reclamation of Bach’s music, spearhead by Mendelssohn and then Schumann, was later to be further developed most famously by Ferruccio Busoni. However, another key figure was composer and organist Joseph Rheinberger, whose arrangement for two pianos of the Goldberg Variations was made in the spring of 1883. Noting that the work had been ‘the object more of theoretical appreciation than musical performance’ Rheinberger sought to clarify its imitative polyphony and where he felt it necessary, added new parts of his own writing to the original score, to create a viable Bach-Rheinberger composition.

The recording industry of the 20th century saw stars become legends and albums become icons of popular culture. Completed in a total of only four days and released in January 1956, Glenn Gould s début recording of Bach s Goldberg Variations is without doubt one of the most significant and successful classical recordings in the history of the gramophone record.

What is a "Zenph Re-Performance"? That may well be the first question for buyers who encounter the cover of this disc without benefit of prior discussion. The short answer: software developed by North Carolina's Zenph Studios that can analyze the sounds of an existing piano recording, breaking them down into digital (numerical) representations of their physical components – tempo, dynamics, attack, duration, even pedaling.