Bach: Goldberg Variations -
The American pianist Murray Perahia's new Sony recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations has
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such presence and immediacy that you will find yourself moved to listen to the entire 75-minute work without a break. Indeed, it would have been exceedingly rude not to, such is the power of this CD. The variations flow one to the other with hardly a break and no noticeable editing. The stream of ideas emanating from the initial haunting aria gathers momentum as the work progresses. Variation Five is the first thrilling lick. Variation Eight is a knuckle-knackering jig. Perahia hits the keys with such crispness that the bass strings twang like harpsichord notes. Variation 11 is the first fugue. Is it dry and dusty? No! It belts along like an arrogant student. Variation 14 is a test of hand crossing--you can hear the click of fingernails on keys. Variation 15 is minor for the first time, 16 is regal, 17 features bubbling thirds. Variation 21 temporarily halts the composer's exuberance with a sudden sombre lurch towards Luther like a guilty sinner repenting. The whole disc is a wonder from beginning to end and undoubtedly one of the finest tributes released in Bach Year 2000. --Rick Jones
Excerpt(s): 1. Aria 2. Variation I 3. Variation II 4. Variation III (Canone all'unisono) 5. Variation IV 6. Variation V 7. Variation VI (Canone alla seconda) 8. Variation VII 9. Variation VIII 10. Variation IX (Canone alla terza) 11. Variation X (Fughetta) 12. Variation XI 13. Variation XII (Canone alla quarta) 14. Variation XIII 15. Variation XIV 16. Variation XV (Canone alla Quinta in moto contrario) 17. Variation XVI (Ouverture) 18. Variation XVII 19. Variation XVIII (Canone alla sesta) 20. Variation XIX 21. Variation XX 22. Variation XXI (Canone alla settima) 23. Variation XXII 24. Variation XXIII 25. Variation XXIV (Canone all'ottava) 26. Variation XXV 27. Variation XXVI 28. Variation XXVII (Canone alla nona) 29. Variation XXVIII 30. Variation XXIX 31. Variation XXX (Quodlibet)
Advantages: Great piano playing of a great Bach composition. Disadvantages: None
...One of Gould's final recordings, this is probably the definitive piano version of Bach's keyboard masterpiece. Gould runs the theme & thirty variations as a unified whole. His playing is characterised by clear fast passages, crisp ornaments and controlled, intense playing of the slow variations (nos.15 & 26). Even his humming along to the music does not detract from a joyous performance. The final section from variation 27 to the slow return to the theme is pianism at its most uplifting.
The piano sound is clear without being dry & compares favourably with most up to date piano recordings. This is a disc to convert anyone to Bach & indeed to Gould's pianistic genius....
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Advantages: Outstanding playing, interesting repertoire Disadvantages: Full price disc
...This disc from Murray Perahia on the Sony label is quite simply one of the best solo piano discs to be released in recent years.
Containing four Bach/Busoni transcriptions, excerpts from Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words and some of Liszt's transcriptions of Schubert songs, the disc shows off Perahia's astounding technique and musicality simultaneously.
I've listened to this disc almost every day for the past two months and I'm STILL not bored with it! It seems to have a piece of music for every mood, from the upbeat, almost jazzy feel of the Bach to the sombre gallop of Schubert's Erl-King.
This is the first disc of Perahia's that I've really got into - can't wait for his forthcoming disc of Bach's GoldbergVariations!...
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Advantages: Elegant, refreshingly stimulating, articulate Goldberg Variations. Disadvantages: (For US residents) Import CD from British Hyperion label costs more than the average.
...Elegant, refreshingly stimulating, with an amazing clarity and articulation--these words might sum up Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt's cerebral yet sensitive rendition of Johann Sebastian Bach's GoldbergVariations. Hewitt has been described as the new interpreter of Bach, "nothing less than the pianist who will define Bach performance on the piano for years to come," Stereophile declared in 1998.
I don't doubt that at all. And I blame the US National Public Radio for sparking a curiosity about Hewitt. A morning program on NPR featured her piano transcriptions of popular Bach tunes in late ‘01. I liked--very much--what I heard. There was no question a Bach recording of hers was going to be joining fellow Bach CDs in my library.
Compared to the widely praised and honored Murray Perahia disc from the year before, Hewitt's Goldbergs...
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helpful 08.09.2003
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