Goldberg Variations

“An ode to silence” is how harpsichordist Jean Rondeau has described Bach’s Goldberg Variations. “I feel they were written for silence, in the sense that they take the place of silence,” he says. “All Bach is there in the Goldberg Variations … all music is there … and I will no doubt spend my life working on them.” To prepare his interpretation he consulted an original printed edition of the work, containing Bach’s own markings and corrections. “Through delving into this precious musicological source, I was able to make what I felt to be the most authentic choices.” Rondeau performs the set of variations in its complete form, with the indicated repeats and with judicious insertion of moments of silence.

“An ode to silence” is how harpsichordist Jean Rondeau has described Bach’s Goldberg Variations. “I feel they were written for silence, in the sense that they take the place of silence,” he says.

The touch and musicianship of the Hungarian pianist Klára Würtz is amply attested by a substantial catalogue of Brilliant Classics and Piano Classics albums stretching from Mozart to Bartók. Her latest recording turns to a pillar of the keyboard repertoire, the variation set composed by J.S. Bach in 1741 as the fourth and final volume of his compendious Clavier-Übung (Keyboard exercise) project.

eune, quand on regarde l’Everest,… on se dit qu’un jour on va le gravir ; il faut se préparer, mais surtout, un jour, il faut y aller…L’Everest, c’est toute l’œuvre de Bach ; les Variations Goldberg ne dérogent pas à la règle mais en les comparant à d’autres intégrales (les Partitas ou même Le Clavier Bien tempéré), les Goldberg ne sont pas forcément plus difficiles à aborder. L’image de l’Everest pour moi, c’est le fait d’aborder une œuvres atypique, longue de plus d’une heure, sans pause et surtout, et ce n’est pas la moindre chose, le fait de connaître beaucoup d’autres interprètes qui l’ont gravi avant moi. Donc les références sont nombreuses et par conséquent la question se pose véritablement, pourquoi aborder les Goldberg aujourd’hui dans le cadre d’un enregistrement ? C’est bien là que se trouve la vraie question.

Anne-Catherine Bucher studied harpsichord and basso continuo with Michele Deverite, Robert Kohnen, Francoise Lengelle, and Huguette Dreyfus, and organ with Norbert Petry. She has taken master classes with Jesper Christensen and Gustav Leonhardt and has performed concerts throughout Europe and Latin America with the finest ensembles specializing in Early Music. Passionate about research, she creates original programs and develops new forms of concerts and encounters with audiences of all kinds. She is professor for harpsichord at the Metz Metropole Conservatory.

In Memoriam of Grammy winning pianist Peter Serkin (1947–2020), a “brilliant instrumentalist, sensitive, original interpreter and performer of uncommon vitality” (Michael Steinberg).

J S Bach’s Goldberg Variations is a masterpiece. First written for harpsichord, it opens with a beautifully tranquil and ornamented Aria followed by 30 intricate and distinct variations. The work was both an artistic triumph for Bach and a tour de force of what could be played on a keyboard.For three centuries the work has been arranged and interpreted for different instruments and ensembles. NZSO brings this Baroque gem to regional audiences, with the variations performed on a variety of instruments.

I decided to cultivate the tradition of recording Goldberg Variations. This 20th-century ritual resulted in hundreds or thousands of interpretations performed on various instruments and recorded on various labels. Believers collect recordings of this lengthy masterpiece.

The touch and musicianship of the Hungarian pianist Klára Würtz is amply attested by a substantial catalogue of Brilliant Classics and Piano Classics albums stretching from Mozart to Bartók. This recording turns to a pillar of the keyboard repertoire, the variation set composed by J. S. Bach in 1741 as the fourth and final volume of his compendious Clavier-Übung project.

David Fray adds a landmark of the solo keyboard repertoire to his Bach discography: the Goldberg Variations.