Bach Goldberg Variations on piano

[marvinbrown]

  NO NO NO! These works were meant for the harpsichord  !  I just can't have it any other way, I'm sorry......I'm just sorry (please forgive).

  marvin

[rubio]

I have it at home, but i have only heard it once. I will try to listen to it in the next couple of days and get back to you. 

Thank you very much, George! I've read her Goldbergs should be quite different from others, and some seem to love it.

[George]

Thank you very much, George! I've read her Goldbergs should be quite different from others, and some seem to love it.

FWIW, I do recall that I wasn't wowed in the way that I was wowed by her Op. 111 and a few other LvB sonatas.

[rubio]

FWIW, I do recall that I wasn't wowed in the way that I was wowed by her Op. 111 and a few other LvB sonatas.

I haven't been wowed by any Goldberg on piano so far .

[Bulldog]

I haven't been wowed by any Goldberg on piano so far .

I have a feeling you will be wowed by Schiff on ECM.

[Sorin Eushayson]

See what you think of this approach...

http://shop.niederfellabrunn.at/J2ES2EBach3A_Goldberg_Variations_BWV_988.html

[Bulldog]

See what you think of this approach...

http://shop.niederfellabrunn.at/J2ES2EBach3A_Goldberg_Variations_BWV_988.html

I have Riemer's Goldbergs, and it's outstanding (also unique in using a fortepiano).  His recording of the Art of Fugue, also on fortepiano, is another great one.

[George]

Yudina's recording is not high on my list.  The sound is pretty bad, and only a wonderful interpretation could overcome it.  Yudina's slow variations can be very poignant and even urgent, but the faster pieces sometimes come across as ragged and low on virtuosity.  She also is willful at times.  However, there are some GMG members who love her performance.  Also, joining the Goldbergs at the hip with the Diabelli Variations is very tempting.

Yes, not to mention the Eroica Variations as well. I agree that the sound is pretty poor, considering this was recorded in 1968. It sounds more like 1948. Her tone is nothing to write home about and this, coupled with the dry sound, does not add up to a nice picture. Still, there is a bit to enjoy here. As you said, the slower parts work much better. After hearing the opening aria, I almost logged on and told rubio to buy this, but as it went on, there were a number of ugly moments. She bangs too much for me on this one. I sure wanted to like it and although I don't hate it, I don't like it that much either.   

[rubio]

Yes, not to mention the Eroica Variations as well. I agree that the sound is pretty poor, considering this was recorded in 1968. It sounds more like 1948. Her tone is nothing to write home about and this, coupled with the dry sound, does not add up to a nice picture. Still, there is a bit to enjoy here. As you said, the slower parts work much better. After hearing the opening aria, I almost logged on and told rubio to buy this, but as it went on, there were a number of ugly moments. She bangs too much for me on this one. I sure wanted to like it and although I don't hate it, I don't like it that much either.   

Thank you very much for the comments, George! I'll bear that in mind.

[Tyson]

Schiff on ECM is pretty good, but I like Hewitt even better.  There's just something about her cool, intellectual, but still vibrant approach that I find immensely appealing.

[George]

Thank you very much for the comments, George! I'll bear that in mind.

My pleasure. 

[orbital]

Weissenberg 
His 27th (I think  ) variation is 8 minutes of bliss. Alexis in one of his extremely rare tender moments 

[Bulldog]

Weissenberg 
His 27th (I think  ) variation is 8 minutes of bliss. Alexis in one of his extremely rare tender moments 

You might be referring to the 25th Variation.

[orbital]

You might be referring to the 25th Variation.

Yes, probably that is it. Thanks.

Weissenberg continues to be my favorite Bach interpreter -believe it or not- in the pieces that he recorded. He has all of Gould's technical abilities without the antics. I wish he had recorded a WTC set 

[jlaurson]

These might be of interest:

Goldberg Variations, Generally Speaking: Overview
Goldberg Variations Variations: Transcriptions (not including Piano)
Dinnerstein, Take Two: Review for ionarts
("Bach with a hint of Zamfir")
Dinnerstein, Take One: Review for WETA
Feltsman: Review for ionarts
Hewitt, live: (one of my first reviews, more cute than useful)

[DavidRoss]

Schiff on ECM is pretty good, but I like Hewitt even better.  There's just something about her cool, intellectual, but still vibrant approach that I find immensely appealing.

Seconded--but I wouldn't characterize her approach that way except perhaps in contrast to Schiff's new ECM disc.  To me she's introspective but playful, attuned to the underlying dance rhythms, and deeply passionate (but not the sort of gal who wears her heart on her sleeve).  Thanks to Don's growing appreciation of it, I bought Dinnerstein's overhyped disc last year and have found much to admire in her more introspective and carefully shaped reading.  And I love both of Gould's studio recordings, of course, but they're not the same without the repeats. 

I love Bach's keyboard works on piano and expect that he would, too.  A modern piano has so much greater dynamic range and rich variability of tone that comparing it to a harpsichord is like comparing a big screen plasma TV to one of those little 1940s black and white CRTs.  And, as Schiff says in the liner notes for his ECM recording:

There will always be those who maintain that to play it on a modern piano is an abominable sin.  Let them believe so, it's just as useless trying to convince them as to make carnivores out of vegetarians.  To many others the tone of the piano is preferable to that of the harpsichord and let's not forget that we are talking about an hour and a quarter of music -- hands on heart, can you listen to the harpsichord that long?

[nut-job]

Schiff on ECM is pretty good, but I like Hewitt even better.  There's just something about her cool, intellectual, but still vibrant approach that I find immensely appealing.

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.

[prémont]

And, as Schiff says in the liner notes for his ECM recording:
we are talking about an hour and a quarter of music -- hands on heart, can you listen to the harpsichord that long?

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

[DavidRoss]

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

  Too bad.  That means you'll miss some fine music-making.   

[prémont]

  Too bad.  That means you'll miss some fine music-making.   

Just an infinite small fraction of what you will miss if you reject Leonhardt, Ross, Gilbert, Hantaï, et.c.et.c.