Norman Stinchcombe reviews the latest classical CD releases Bach 'Goldberg Variations': Radek Baborák et.al . (Animal Music CD) ★★★★ Bach's aria and thirty variations were composed for a keyboard player called Goldberg to induce sleep for his insomniac aristocratic employer. "Dear Goldberg, do play me one of my variations," he would insist, so Bach's biographer Johann Nikolaus Forkel tells us. A good tale but probably apocryphal; what's certain is that it's one of Bach's crowning achievements and was, as the 1741 published score puts it, "Composed for connoisseurs, for the refreshment of their spirits." There are dozens of keyboard recordings to choose from, played on the two manual harpsichord, the instrument Bach composed it for, and the modern concert grand. Musicians cannot resist the Goldberg spell and there are also recordings of transcriptions for an immense variety of soloists and ensembles including: solo harp, solo accordion,...
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Showing posts from May, 2026