Bach: Goldberg Variations (2020)

performed by Lang Lang (piano)
composed by Johann Sebastian Bach

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Lang Lang says that he has been playing Bach's Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, from memory since he was a teenager. He's studied the work along the way and points unexpectedly to Nikolaus Harnoncourt and fortepianist Andreas Staier as figures who shaped his conception of the music, but he waited until age 38 to record the work, in 2020. The results are entirely original, and yet somehow along the lines of what one might expect. Lang's treatment is brilliant, charismatic, and quite extreme, with the slow 25th variation coming in at over ten minutes in both performances on the deluxe edition, while other variations are speeded up and emphasize Lang's skill in pure passagework. This leads one to the most distinctive feature of this release, one that may well be unprecedented: the deluxe edition includes two Lang performances of the Goldbergs, one recorded in the Berlin Jesus-Christus-Kirche, and the other live at Bach's Thomaskirche in Leipzig. What's striking is that the two performances, although both... Read Less

Lang Lang says that he has been playing Bach's Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, from memory since he was a teenager. He's studied the work along the way and points unexpectedly to Nikolaus Harnoncourt and fortepianist Andreas Staier as figures who shaped his conception of the music, but he waited until age 38 to record the work, in 2020. The results are entirely original, and yet somehow along the lines of what one might expect. Lang's treatment is brilliant, charismatic, and quite extreme, with the slow 25th variation coming ... Read More