Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Hyperion Records CDA68146

Goldberg Variations ‘Aria mit verschiedenen Veränderungen’ BWV988 [81’58] 1 Aria [4’21] 2 Variation 1: a 1 Clav. [1’42] 3 Variation 2: a 1 Clav. [1’40] 4 Variation 3: Canone all’Unisuono. a 1 Clav. [2’19] 5 Variation 4: a 1 Clav. [1’08] 6 Variation 5: a 1 ô vero 2 Clav. [1’32] 7 Variation 6: Canone alla Secunda. a 1 Clav. [1’56] 8 Variation 7: a 1 ô vero 2 Clav. Al tempo di Giga [2’02] 9 Variation 8: a 2 Clav. [1’54] 10 Variation 9: Canone alla Terza. a 1 Clav. [1’59] 11 Variation 10: Fughetta. a 1 Clav. [1’37] 12 Variation 11: a 2 Clav. [2’08] 13 Variation 12: Canone alla Quarta. a 1 Clav. [2’35] 14 Variation 13: a 2 Clav. [5’01] 15 Variation 14: a 2 Clav. [2’11] 16 Variation 15: Canone alla Quinta. a 1 Clav. Andante [4’49] 17 Variation 16: Ouverture. a 1 Clav. [2’54] 18 Variation 17: a 2 Clav. [2’18] 19 Variation 18: Canone alla Sexta. a 1 Clav. [1’31] 20 Variation 19: a 1 Clav. [1’42] 21 Variation 20: a 2 Clav. [1’56] 22 Variation 21: Canone alla Settima. a 1 Clav. [3’19] 23 Variation 22: a 1 Clav. [1’30] 24 Variation 23: a 1 Clav. [2’13] 25 Variation 24: Canone all’Ottava. a 1 Clav. [3’25] 26 Variation 25: a 2 Clav. Adagio [8’50] 27 Variation 26: a 2 Clav. [2’03] 28 Variation 27: Canone alla Nona. a 2 Clav. [1’52] 29 Variation 28: a 2 Clav. [2’15] 30 Variation 29: a 1 ô vero 2 Clav. [2’31] 31 Variation 30: Quodlibet. a 1 Clav. [2’00] 32 Aria da capo [2’45]

Sixteen years have passed since Angela Hewitt’s first, justly celebrated, version of the ‘Goldbergs’. She here commits to record her ever-evolving response to a work which contains the ‘shadowed lesson of the whole world’, and which continues to play a central role in her life as an artist.

‘The pianist’s enviable polyphonic acumen and dance-orientated conception continue to operate at full capacity, albeit on a deeper and subtler level, as comparative listening reveals’ (Gramophone)

‘Sixteen year on, the fingers are as formidably on the ball as ever—capable of the most tender translucency, of staccato leaps that ‘ping’, and able to differentiate and characterise several voices simultaneously with jaw-dropping felicity’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘More than any contemporary player, she manages to suggest the harpsichord’s plucking mechanism with her brilliant articulation—the trills of Variation 16!’ (The Sunday Times)

‘This will be a winner for [Angela Hewitt’s] fan club’ (Pianist)