Julian Rachlin & Friends: Bach's Goldberg Variations

Ensemble Nevermind: Bach's Goldberg Variations

For lovers of chamber music the Recital Hall is the venue of choice. You can hear the musicians breathe and you can practically touch them. This hall is also cherished by musicians for its beautiful acoustics and direct contact with the audience. In the Recital Hall you can hear the best musicians of our time. Buy your tickets now and experience the magic of the Recital Hall for yourself!Transcription by Nevermind (Anna Besson, Louis Creac’h, Robin Pharo & Jean Rondeau) of the Goldberg Variations BWV 988; “Clavier Übung bestehend in einer Arie mit verschiedenen Veränderungen vors Clavicimbal mit 2 Manualen” by Johann Sebastian Bach, for violin, flute, viola da gamba and basso continuo. Transcription leads: Robin Pharo & Jean Rondeau Editor in chief : Robin Pharo Project created on Saturday 23 September 2023 as part of a creative residency hosted by the Bel-Air Claviers Festival.

Julian Rachlin : Chamber orchestra

Nevermind / Goldberg

It is a feature of masterpieces that they inspire—without being diminished by—various forms of reappropriation. Nevermind, a quartet of Baroque music adepts, inventively reimagines the illustrious Goldbergs, offering an eloquent variation on variations.

An absolute work / The Goldberg Variations

The Goldberg Variations are described as an absolute work of art. The commission is said to have come from count Hermann Carl von Keyserlingk, suffering from insomnia during his time at the Viennese court. The piece was intended to be performed by the very young harpsichordist Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, a musician of the count’s own court, whose playing helped the aristocrat while away the sleepless hours. The composer found variations to be the best form for night-time music-making. And that was how the aria with thirty variations, which over time became a synonym for musical innovativeness, came to be. The work Bach created is eclectic in its every aspect, showing a skillful use of various musical elements, such as counterpoint, virtuosity, and musical rhetoric. The leitmotif, however, is not the melody of the aria, but… the bass line! What is more, the composer created a work of unbelievable singability, which can be heard in the entirety of the cycle. There is no other keyboard composition of Bach’s that adheres to the idea of the cantilena – a singable and smooth melody, highly engaging for the listener – to such an extent. The Goldberg Variations stood the test of time and continue to delight listeners. Their influence on further generations of composers and the development of pianistics cannot be overstated. Centuries after the work’s creation, numerous renowned artists, such as Glenn Gould, proposed interpretations as controversial as they were groundbreaking, often crossing the borders laid out by the composer, perceiving the piece not only as a technical challenge, but predominantly as a source of deep musical knowledge. The contemporary grand piano performances represent another innovative trend, which constitutes a significant departure from the composer’s original imagination and concept. While the piano is indeed different from the harpsichord, it does, however, enable even more depth and complexity to be found in the masterpiece, thus showing the richness of its sound and the unsurpassed skill of its composition in all their glory. [Alexandra Kozowicz]Concert duration: approximately 90 minutes

Renaud Capuçon & Friends

French violinist and conductor Renaud Capuçon likes to encourage musical encounters and mix generations. With Paul Zientara, Julia Hagen and Guillaume Bellom, he shares Fauré and two rarely performed gems from post-Romantic repertoire.

Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 5

For lovers of chamber music the Recital Hall is the venue of choice. You can hear the musicians breathe and you can practically touch them. This hall is also cherished by musicians for its beautiful acoustics and direct contact with the audience. In the Recital Hall you can hear the best musicians of our time. Buy your tickets now and experience the magic of the Recital Hall for yourself!