Considered “hauntingly beautiful and a work of genius” by NZSO Concertmaster Vesa-Matti Leppänen, Goldberg Variations was an artistic triumph for Bach.
The popular story surrounding the origins of these variations is that Bach wrote them for an insomniac Count, to be played to him during his sleepless nights by his house-musician Johann Goldberg. Whether or not the story is true, the Goldberg Variations represent a unique compendium which, as one historian puts it, “sums up the entire history of Baroque variation”.
To create this unique version of the Variations, Vesa-Matti Leppänen has drawn from two 20th century arrangements of the music: Dmitry Sitkovetsky’s string arrangements and Heribert Breuer’s nonet arrangement, which he mixes with Bach’s original performed on fortepiano.
Vesa-Matti Leppänen (violin/director), Stephen De Pledge (fortepiano), members of New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
Recorded on 22 July 2020 in the Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington by RNZ Concert
Producer: David McCaw
Engineer: Darryl Stack
