Interesting piece thanks for posting it.

I think I once read a story that the Goldbergs helped Lang Lang get ‘discovered’ (not quite the right word). Eschenbach was at a private event with LL having heard him play as a last minute substitute for Andre Watts, and asked him to try his hand at the Goldbergs.

I really enjoyed that article but I really didn’t like Lang Lang’s way of playing the Aria.... and I’m not one of those people who loves to hate Lang Lang either. Hmmm

Here’s the story, from a 2008 New Yorker piece.

quote:

As the post-concert dinner was ending—by then, it was well after midnight—Eschenbach and a few others asked Lang if he would give them a private recital, right away, of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, a set of linked pieces that runs close to an hour.

“I don’t have the score,” Lang said.

“Surely you have it memorized,” Zarin Mehta, the festival’s executive director, said.

Lang was not sure that he did, but he dared ask only where he could play. A hall nearby was opened up. Lang understood the request: Eschenbach and Mehta wanted to echo the historic link with Watts, who had replaced Gould—the signature performer of the Goldberg Variations. As they walked into the theatre and Eschenbach turned on the lights and found a piano stool, Lang’s father whispered, “Don’t worry, you’ll remember every single note.”

https://www.newyorker.com/maga...8/08/04/the-olympian

Well, that is my least favorite interpretation of the Aria by a long shot.

Too much "rubato" which on occasion, makes his timing sound amateurish. Some very bad, very "over the top" attempts at ornamentation.

I play this piece a lot. And have for years. I do not profess to play it "better" than anyone, but I know a good interpretation when I hear it. This is not an interpretation I will want to experience on any regular basis. I may listen to it a few more times just to verify what I heard the first time. I know what I heard, and I didn't like it. Knowing the piece as I do, I really don't think additional listening will help. lol

Variation 7 was better. but something was still "off" IMO. I will wait to pass full judgement util after I listen to the rest of the recordings.

Mr. Gould has nothing to worry about from what I have heard of this recording.

quote:

“Don’t worry, you’ll remember every single note.”

Wow, love these words of encouragement!!

Mark, glad I'm not the only one. I have never tried to play any of the Goldberg variations. Although I have listened to them a lot (probably not as much as you but still, a lot)...

Anyway at some points in the Aria, I actually thought "wow that sounds like someone who's just learning the music. Why on earth would he play it that way."