Classical Music for Aficionados

RV   I'm very sorry and I am upset that I have to disagree with you but I did not like Lang Lang's Goldbergs at all. I found that the opening aria was so slow it was like a dirge. That said though I have to agree that some of the variations were very good on the ear but I'm afraid the aria is the acid test for me and if too fast or too slow the rest of the piece suffers to me. The Goldbergs to me are so great that it takes a very brave musician to tackle them and it doesn't matter to me as you go further in that if you blow it at the start the piece remains lost. I do very much like Lang Lang in some pieces by Schumann and his favourite Liszt but I don't think you would like to hear them. He certainly has the fingers for Liszt.

Jim, et al
There are so many recordings of the Goldbergs, I cannot get my head around a comparison of them.
Here are some of them:

Hewitt

Tureck

Watcha

Gavrilov

Gould

Jarrett

Feltsman

Perahia

Rana

Sokolov

Nikolayeva

Angelich

Leonhardt

I know there are more somewhere in my hard drives, but that is all that shows up in my search.

So Jim, tell us please, which is your favorite?

Jim,
No reason to be sorry.  i haven’t listened to the Goldberg for a while.  Maybe the beauty of the music influenced my positive reaction

RV   you stated the beauty of the music influenced your reaction and I can totally agree with you there. Lang Lang did really project that in his playing but he made a lot of the movements sound like Chopin Preludes which a lot of people may be happy with but to me way too much pedal on them.


jcazador    Jeremy I have perused your list and there are some stellar names there of which most people would be delighted with and I have fitted that category most of the time also. I currently have two favourites which are poles apart so that lets you know that most interpretations have playing in them that are most enjoyable . My current two are not even on your list that shows just how diverse they are. My first is Andras Schiff 1983 version because you can tell how much he loves playing them and therefor he says goodbye on the aria repeat with a smile . I shall never tire of them and by the way I think technically this version beats the known versions by everyone else.
My next recording is by Ekaterina Dershavina and she gives us a quite literal interpretation  but she has you glued to your seat and you keep saying to yourself "I have never heard this or that detail before" Hers is a voyage of discovery which I love going on regularly.
 Guys have a lovely weekend. Jim.

+1 for Andras Schiff  .