Bach: Goldberg Variations [DVD] [2008]

I've known and loved Evgeni Koroliov's 1999 CD of the Goldberg Variations, part of the Hänssler label's ongoing series of Bach's complete works, since it was issued. It is notable for its unfussiness, it unfailing musicality, its sense of spontaneity, and its sonic clarity. Clearly influenced by Glenn Gould, Koroliov nonetheless alters his touch a good deal more than the Canadian, varying from Gouldian staccato to unfailingly clear legato; this adds to the palpable feeling of spontaneity. Bach's polyphonic lines are always easily heard. And a singing, lyical line is always present.

Now comes this video of a live performance of the Goldbergs, recorded in the Gewandhaus at the Leipzig Bach Festival in June 2008, only five months before this DVD was issued. As in the earlier CD all repeats are taken. This performance is similar in many respects to that earlier recording, although it is slightly faster. My goodness, he takes the 5th variation about as fast as I've ever heard it; I wonder how he manages to make it, written for the two keyboards of the harpsichord, so clear without his two hands getting tangled up with each other. Although slower, the 11th variation presents the same problems and Koroliov sidesteps any possible digital collisions. The simplicity of the 18th variation (canon at the sixth) is charming; there are occasional octave displacements, as in this variation. It is followed by a slower-than-usual 19th variation whose lyricism is emphasized. Ornaments throughout are sparse and unobtrusive but always sparkling and apt. The Black Pearl variation -- No. 25 -- lasts ten minutes, slower than most performances, conveying a raptness that brought a lump to my throat. It is followed by a gentle, hyperlegato 26th variation, a perfect way to slowly emerge from the hypnotic 25th. The 28th variation is as light as Mendelssohn fairy music. The quodlibet, No. 30, is played with gentle humor. The repeat of the Aria is marginally faster, but still similar to Gould's 1981 recording. This is a masterful Goldbergs, one I'll be watching (and listening to) again and again.

One beauty of this DVD is that we get exceptionally helpful camerawork. There are, I think, seven camera vantage points: below and to the right, below and to the left, above and to the right, directly above the keyboard shooting down, to the right as from the audience, to the left and slightly behind the pianist at keyboard level, across the soundboard directly focusing on the pianist's face. Each camera is capable of zooming in or out. All this during a live performance! Never once did I see a camera or camera operator until the end when Koroliov was taking his bows. Real credit goes to director Michael Beyer and producer Paul Smaczny. Sound is remarkably lifelike.

Unhesitatingly recommended for those who think they'd like the Goldberg Variations on DVD. This will be a desert island choice for me.

Time: 88mins; Format: NTSC 16:9; Sound: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1; Region code: 0 (worldwide)

Scott Morrison

The Goldberg Variations have been a part of my CD collection for some 50 years now but have always been represented by performances on harpsichord of varying sizes and periods. Essentially I have always believed that this work especially needs the purity of definition almost inevitable on the harpsichord and very much at risk on the piano.

This issue of purity is largely due to the mechanical difference between the two instruments whereby the harpsichord achieves its sound though quills plucking strings while the piano achieves its sound through hammers striking the strings. The piano is consequently capable of a far greater range of dynamic and tonal response which might lead the performer to stray away from the musical conception envisioned by Bach.

What is extraordinary about this performance by Evgeni Koroliov is the extent to which he is able to play the piano without making use of its additional tonal or dynamic capabilities. This is very much harpsichord playing applied to the piano and stems from his belief that it is essential for the player to clearly differentiate and expose the polyphonic textures of the work. His admiration for players such as Glen Gould and Sviatoslav Richter is based on their ability to bring out these very features in their own playing of Bach. What we have here is absolute clarity of finger-work delivered without exaggeration so that every line of Bach's composition is laid bare for us to follow.

Without going to the extremes of commenting on every one of the 30 variations, the last ten should suffice as representative of this performance. Taking two of the faster variations first, numbers 20 and 23, what is extraordinary is the illusion that what we are listening to here is a harpsichord with playing of complete lucidity and absolute rhythmical control which would be vital on that instrument for these two variations to avoid collapsing. The contrasting and much extended adagio variation (25) is a wonderful example of how simplicity is the best way to achieve total concentration of the musical thought processes. It is only in this movement, because of its very slow pace, that one is aware of the different mechanics of the piano. These last 10 variations also demonstrate the utter inevitability of Koroliov's conception and performance.

The recording is presented in undemonstratively excellent DD 5.1, DTS 5.1 and stereo sound which is complemented by equally undemonstrative and un-invasive camera work with crystal clear imaging.

This is an extraordinary achievement on all levels and should give deep satisfaction to all purchasers, even harpsichord enthusiasts like me. For these reasons, in my opinion, it seems that a 5 star rating is the only viable possibility.

After reading other reviews of this DVD and Koroliov's earlier CD, I decided to purchase the DVD, because it was reported to take a slightly faster pace. I was also intrigued by the possibility that Koroliov might have provided a performance that is different but as satisfying as my long-time favorite recording of this piece by Konstantin Lifschitz (Bach: Goldberg Variations).

Koroliov's performance is certainly different. He definitely achieves at least one of the goals that he set out for himself as described in the program notes. There he is reported to have mentioned Glenn Gould, Maria Yudina, and Sviatoslav Richter as his strongest pianistic influences, chiefly because they were all able to "bring out the polyphonic textures in Bach's contrapuntal works." In this respect, he is definitely their equal. His readings are extremely clean, and creatively, though not heavily, ornamented, and he uses a wide variety of touch and dynamics to clearly separate the contrapuntal lines. His tempos are true, almost rigidly so, and his diction is just as even no matter how fast or slow the tempo. In short, this is an exceedingly honest performance of the work, and the piano sound is just as even and clear. It should be in every Goldberg collection.

However, it is just not as satisfying to me as Lifschitz's youthful offering, which has only grown more dear to me as the years pass. May be I will feel differently about Koroliov's performance over time. The difference lies, I believe, in Lifschitz's extraordinary improvisatory and lyrical quality that does not sacrifice any of the clarity of line that Koroliov achieves. Even when Lifschitz applies a staccato line, he sings the thematic elements of the variation. Lifschitz also plays the piece generally faster, with more rhythmic energy in many more of the variations than Koroliov allows.

For example, some have noted the amazing velocity and clarity with which Koroliov renders Variation 5. Lifschitz actually takes this variation with noticeably greater velocity and more rhythmic power than Koroliov manages to sustain. The effect that Lifschitz leaves behind is a certain ecstatic quality where Koroliov leaves a delightful but decided lightness. With Lifschitz's tempo choices throughout, some slow, some fast, and some faster still, there is a feeling of inevitability from one variation to the next, as if they are all connected, not just by their common harmonic ground, but by a common forward-moving energy that is compellingly relentless, even in the slowest of variations, such as Variation 25.

Koroliov does a very fine job in moving quickly from one variation to the next, providing a unified approach to the entire performance. Lifschitz also uses this approach, especially over the first eight or ten variations. However, he varies this, especially where he pauses for dramatic effect when introducing a major change in tempo between two variations. Overall, Lifschitz's approach seems much easier and more relaxed to this listener without losing any precision, where as Koroliov seems to work a bit harder to exact a certain precision that there by loses some of the lyrical shape of the work he is conveying.

Still, again, Koroliov applies some remarkable invention in his voicings, especially where he will find a long lyrical line that he brings out pleasantly and unexpectedly in an otherwise more staccato treatment of a variation. In this, his choices of contrapuntal separation are sometimes quite different and refreshing from those of Lifschitz.

I suppose that one way to sum up the difference between these two very fine performances is that Koroliov's is a much more classical and even-tempered approach compared to Lifschitz's more romantic and muscular reading. Both deliver the music with evident feeling. However, Koroliov seems to carefully draw a box around the degree and variety of emotion that he is willing to express, as if afraid that excessive sentiment might destroy his finely wrought crystal of a vision. Lifschitz, perhaps because he possesses a more natural fluidity in his playing, allows a less restrained rein on his emotions without any sacrifice in elemental clarity in the music. I think it is this fine balance of powerful human emotion and intellectual rigor that draws me more to Lifschitz than to the undeniably fine performance that Koroliov delivers.