Bach Goldberg Variations on piano

[nut-job]

I have serious problems with listening to A Schiff more than a quarter of an hour at the time.

Here's a tip.  Play the Schiff recording back through your cell phone speaker, sounds just like a harpsichord!  

[DavidRoss]

Here's a tip.  Play the Schiff recording back through your cell phone speaker, sounds just like a harpsichord!  

Brilliant! 

[springrite]

I have serious problems with listening to A Schiff more than a quarter of an hour at the time.

Listen to one variation a day. That will give you just about one month worth of listening pleasure.

[prémont]

Here's a tip.  Play the Schiff recording back through your cell phone speaker, sounds just like a harpsichord!  

Easy now, I am not that desperate, as I am not forced to listen to him (neither by my own taste nor for some other irrational reason).

[Bulldog]

I could listen to the Goldbergs all day on either a piano or harpsichord.  This blind spot that Schiff and others have for the harpsichord is a bit puzzling.

[springrite]

I just purchased the Tureck recording (GROC). I am leaving on a ten day business trip. I am thinking about bringing all (or most) of my Goldberg recordings on the road with me. (It is my usual practice to bring CDs with me, for listening at leisure, at airport, etc.)

Yudina's may not be the best but she has her moments and this Bach with Muscle can be the right thing when you are in certain mood. I would not want to be without it. Right now my favorite is Schepkin but this may change at any time as Gould (both versions), Tureck, Kempff have all been my favorite at one time or another. I like some of the harpsichord recordings, transcriptions etc as well. The only one I strongly dislike so far is Landawska!

[DavidRoss]

I couldn't agree more, Schiff's Bach is brilliant.

He wouldn't be missing much though, I'd rather listen to & recommend Schiff's Bach (i.e. the Partitas/Decca) over any of those.

Will wonders never cease?  I didn't think you and I would ever agree on anything.  Good to see that there's some common ground after all, besides remembering how thrilling it was to see Bonanza in color for the first time. 

[Bulldog]

He wouldn't be missing much though, I'd rather listen to & recommend Schiff's Bach (i.e. the Partitas/Decca) over any of those.

I think that anyone who restricts his/her listening of Bach's keyboard works to "piano only" or "harpsichord only" is missing a great deal.  They also sound wonderful on fortepiano or clavichord (assuming the performer is excellent).

[Bulldog]

Listened to Hantai's first recording on Naive and Schiff's 2nd on ECM.  Both are fantastic and quite similar in mood painting. 

[Coopmv]

Schiff and Hewitt are both superb, particularly Hewitt.  As another mentioned above, Hewitt's approach has some playfulness in it, as well as a certain technical rigor.  I hesitate to call it cool, because her performance of the well known variation 25 (Landowska's "black pearl") is sensitive without being sentimental.

But, for a hoot, some of the transcriptions can be quite engaging.  I have and enjoy both of these:


http://www.amazon.com/Bach-Goldberg-Variations-Transcription-Strings/dp/B000005J2R/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1237993045&sr=8-1


http://www.amazon.com/Johann-Sebastian-Bach-Goldberg-Variationen-Version/dp/B00000599C/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1237993184&sr=8-3

Regarding the harpsichord question, since Bach wrote this specifically for a two manual harpsichord I take it for granted that any serious listener owes it to him or herself to hear the piece performed on harpsichord.  But I can't sit through it played all the way through on one of those contraptions.

I have had the violin transcription CD for some times and still am not sure if I like it that much ...

[jlaurson]

1.) This is the disc you boys should be talking about.
Highly enjoyable (and more).


BACH, Goldberg Variations, Zhu Xiao-Mei, Mirare
(Cheap in France)

2.) The Sitkovetsky Transcription is very well done. One of the finest of the more intrusive Bach transcriptions I have heard. Probably _the_ finest.

from my "Goldberg Variations Variations" piece for WETA:

Back to the Goldberg Variations courtesy of Misha Maisky, Julian Rachlin, and Nobuko Imai. Among the transcriptions for accordion, saxophone, brass ensemble, octet, etc.—some of which are little more than novelties—the Dmitri Sitkovetsky string transcription, dedicated to Glenn Gould, is probably the finest and most serious. And Sitkovetsky's own string-trio version of that is better, still, to these ears.

There must be five or six versions variably available, but the choice really comes down to Sitkovetsky's 1995 recording on Orfeo with Gérard Caussé and Mischa Maisky, or the latter's already mentioned new DG recording. Both are played with total dedication and technically without fault; but Sitkovetsky, skipping most repeats, takes less time (a bit under an hour) and sounds a little faster, too. Maisky and friends take all the repeats and clock in at just over 80 minutes, just in time to keep it from sprawling onto a second disc.

Though the performances are, by nature of the instruments' possibilities, more leisurely paced than the early Glenn Gould, emotional if not definite connections to both of the Gould recordings can be heard. And as far as the transcription-rationalization No.1 ("it brings out new aspects of a well known work") is concerned: Yes, it really does. The communicativeness of the contrapuntal lines is exquisitely followable. A very enjoyable adventure, this is—and not just for the Goldberg-obsessed fringe. This music is as mainstream-friendly as the three famous performers. Now all you need is Uri Caine's truly whacky recording of his seventy (!) Goldberg Variation Variations and Jacques Loussier's supremely charming, easy going Jazz-trio version and you are set.

That is until the version for Bagpipe-nonet is discovered to be irresistible.

3.) The Schiff recordings never quite convinced me entirely. Well, the ECM probably did... the other one, not unlike Hewitt's, is just so very understated. He's "surrounded" from all (wacky) sides by the Feltsmans ("extrovert"), Stadtfelds ("gratuitous"), Goulds ("Gouldesque"), Perahias ("masculine romanticism"), Dinnersteens ("pink chiffon")... so that the neutral middle is established in my head as a platonic Ur-version and I don't need to hear it anymore. That said, I have to admit that Xiao-Mei probably fall pretty close to the circle of excentricities, because she's a very unmannered player.

Exempting current favorite Xiao-Mei, of the above, and one of the most "pianistic" versions, Perahia is a favorite.

4.) Harpsichord: Absolutely love me a good harpsichord version.

Pierre Hantaï sparkles in every note on his first recording on op.111 (1992), presents a woven carpet of bubbly sound. Most pleasing – also a surface-focused account (not to be mistaken for superficial). Hantaï's more recent recording is on the Mirare label (2003), which has so far produced only winners. I don't own it but have heard it a few times. The superficial impression is a similar, slightly slower account, less straightforward as his on op.111 – with slightly better, deeper sound. What it did not strike me as, however, was the kind of revelation that Christophe Rousset's Clavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann (Ambroise, 2005) presented in terms of sound of instrument and recording.

Among the lot, the choice would be difficult to make – although it is difficult not to be impressed by Suzuki and carried away by Hantaï. Jarrett is less obviously a top contender – but I found him to hold up against most of the competition because his rhythm, perhaps seemingly stiff at first, reveals itself to have spine and keeps the work fresh from the first note to the last, never allowing the tension or propulsion to sag. Egarr presses softer buttons altogether; those who look for sensitivity might find their match here.

Landowska responded to Pablo Casals critique of her Bach: "You perform Bach your way, I perform him his way." That's still funny, if for different reasons. To think that Landowska's Pleyel resembled a harpsichord from Bach's time any more than a Steinway D is a stretch. Egarr, however, might just have a claim to this statement. Whether that is enough to merit the inclusion of this disc depends on the listener's desire to hone in as closely as possible to what the original may have, ideally, sounded like... and his or her willingness to double and triple up on G-berg recordings. For me, this is not a first choice, but a most welcome, well and warmly played addition to the bulging shelf where I particularly cherish Suzuki (fast), Hantaï (sparkle), Jarrett ("The Stork") on harpischord - and Gould (required), Perahia (romantic - Sony) and, as of late, Lifschitz (as nimble as Gould with more interesting rhythm - in Denon's great sound) on piano.

[DavidRoss]

3.) The Schiff recordings never quite convinced me entirely. Well, the ECM probably did... the other one, not unlike Hewitt's, is just so very understated. He's "surrounded" from all (wacky) sides by the Feltsmans ("extrovert"), Stadtfelds ("gratuitous"), Goulds ("Gouldesque"), Perahias ("masculine romanticism"), Dinnersteens ("pink chiffon")... so that the neutral middle is established in my head as a platonic Ur-version and I don't need to hear it anymore. That said, I have to admit that Xiao-Mei probably fall pretty close to the circle of excentricities, because she's a very unmannered player.

Exempting current favorite Xiao-Mei, of the above, and one of the most "pianistic" versions, Perahia is a favorite.

If Schiff's ECM and Hewitt's are understated, then give me more understatement.  Which is not to say that slapstick hasn't its place.  I really liked Perahia's when released, but after awhile resumed reaching automatically for Gould.  Perhaps it's time I spin him again, keeping "masculine romanticism" in mind.  (What is "masculine romanticism" anyway?  Ashkenazy, perhaps?  It's just that I'm having a hard time clearing my mind of the image of John Wayne playing sorrowful Werther.)

[jlaurson]

(What is "masculine romanticism" anyway? 

Indulgent, but not rose-oil infused. Luxuriant, but not a lather of creamy body-wash. Warm hued, but not scented apricot candles. Rubato, but not wafting about.


I forgot to mention Koroliov, whose Variations (though not exactly the Aria) are phenomenal. (One of those "Driveway Moments", if you are familiar with that Public Radio phrase.)

[George]

Indulgent, but not rose-oil infused. Luxuriant, but not a lather of creamy body-wash. Warm hued, but not scented apricot candles. Rubato, but not wafting about.

Well said.

[DavidRoss]

Indulgent, but not rose-oil infused. Luxuriant, but not a lather of creamy body-wash. Warm hued, but not scented apricot candles. Rubato, but not wafting about.

Ah.  Better break out the elk musk, lampblack, blowtorch, and metronome.  Roger that.

[Coopmv]

I enjoy this Goldberg Variations ...

[Coopmv]

I enjoy this Goldberg Variations ...

Sorry for the lousy picture, as I have not bothered to scan in my own original CD artwork ...

[Coopmv]

And what is wrong with Goldberg Variations performed on harpsichord.  I love this recording by Leonhardt ...

[George]

Sorry for the lousy picture, as I have not bothered to scan in my own original CD artwork ...

No worries, it's the performance that matters, right? 

[DavidRoss]

3.) The Schiff recordings never quite convinced me entirely. Well, the ECM probably did... the other one, not unlike Hewitt's, is just so very understated. He's "surrounded" from all (wacky) sides by the Feltsmans ("extrovert"), Stadtfelds ("gratuitous"), Goulds ("Gouldesque"), Perahias ("masculine romanticism"), Dinnersteens ("pink chiffon")...

Indulgent, but not rose-oil infused. Luxuriant, but not a lather of creamy body-wash. Warm hued, but not scented apricot candles. Rubato, but not wafting about.

OK, I popped Perahia in and got it.  You mean masculine as in yang--outgoing, assertive, firm, forthright, warm, and so on--as contrasted with Dinnerstein's yin--introspective, contemplative, tentative, soft, cool, and so on.  Duh!