J.S. Bach - Variations Goldberg - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

These Goldberg Variations present new perspectives on a well-known score. Danish composer Peter Navarro-Alonso's composition is a note-by-note reinvention of the original Goldberg Variations by J.S. Bach. Thus Alpha's innovative performance adds no additional notes in comparison to the original. It is merely through the very creative and extreme orchestration that the new composition gains it's own life. InchThe combination of recorder, saxophone and percussion is clearly not very well suited to a baroque-style reorchestration,Inch claims Peter Navarro-Alonso, responsible for this arrangement tailor made for the members of Alpha. InchBut the richness in that combination lies in it's enormous diversity in timbre and dynamics.Inch Alpha is a unique Danish ensemble, founded by Bolette Roed, Peter Navarro-Alonso, and David Hildebrandt, who all graduated from the soloist class at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, Copenhagen. As early as 2003, they were the first to explore this instrument combination, attracted by it's many possibilities. Alpha was an immediate success, and have been prize-winners at contests and festivals all over Europe.

Stepan Simonian writes InchWhy Bach? Why Goldberg? Johann Sebastian Bach was a true InchessenceInch of music a composer who brought literally everything together in his output, bridging all periods from Gregorian chant almost all the way to Viennese Classicism. In his seven early keyboard toccatas we encounter a young man gifted with genius, enriched by a multitude of musical influences, and still tempted to adapt to the musical developments of his day... Musical cycles such as The Well-Tempered Clavier, The Musical Offering, or The Art of Fugue constitute the ne plus ultra in terms of Bach's mastery of instrumental polyphony. The Goldberg Variations, conversely, present a compendium of his skill in composing variations. Since this variation cycle is written for a two-manual harpsichord, we can assume that Bach himself regarded it as an important milestone in his art as a performer on that instrument. Whether this supposition be true or not, there is no doubt that the Goldberg Variations represent one of the most outstanding works in the entire musical repertoire... Each time I perform, hear, or study these variations, I uncover new dimensions. They are brimming with the finest nuances, implications, and emotionally charged associations. The familiar path to that familiar home remains the same path, but the way I walk down it becomes thoroughly different every time.Inch

Album Tracks 1. Goldberg Variations, for Keyboard (Clavier-Übung IV), BWV 988 (BC L9) Aria 2. Goldberg Variations, for Keyboard (Clavier-Übung IV), BWV 988 (BC L9) Variatio 1 3. Goldberg Variations, for Keyboard (Clavier-Übung IV), BWV 988 (BC L9) Variatio 2 4. Goldberg Variations, for Keyboard (Clavier-Übung IV), BWV 988 (BC L9) Variatio 3. Canone All'unisono 5. Goldberg Variations, for Keyboard (Clavier-Übung IV), BWV 988 (BC L9) Variatio 4 6. Goldberg Variations, for Keyboard (Clavier-Übung IV), BWV 988 (BC L9) Variatio 5 7. Goldberg Variations, for Keyboard (Clavier-Übung IV), BWV 988 (BC L9) Variatio 6. Canone Alla Seconda 8. Goldberg Variations, for Keyboard (Clavier-Übung IV), BWV 988 (BC L9) Variatio 7. Al Tempo Di Giga 9. Goldberg Variations, for Keyboard (Clavier-Übung IV), BWV 988 (BC L9) Variatio 8 10. Goldberg Variations, for Keyboard (Clavier-Übung IV), BWV 988 (BC L9) Variatio 9. Canone Alla Terza 11. Goldberg Variations, for Keyboard (Clavier-Übung IV), BWV 988 (BC L9) Variatio 10. Fughetta 12. Goldberg Variations, for Keyboard (Clavier-Übung IV), BWV 988 (BC L9) Variatio 11 13. Goldberg Variations, for Keyboard (Clavier-Übung IV), BWV 988 (BC L9) Variatio 12. Canone Alla Quarta 14. Goldberg Variations, for Keyboard (Clavier-Übung IV), BWV 988 (BC L9) Variatio 13 15. Goldberg Variations, for Keyboard (Clavier-Übung IV), BWV 988 (BC L9) Variatio 14 16. Goldberg Variations, for Keyboard (Clavier-Übung IV), BWV 988 (BC L9) Variatio 15. Canone Alla Quinta 17. Goldberg Variations, for Keyboard (Clavier-Übung IV), BWV 988 (BC L9) Variatio 16. Ouverture 18. Goldberg Variations, for Keyboard (Clavier-Übung IV), BWV 988 (BC L9) Variatio 17 19. Goldberg Variations, for Keyboard (Clavier-Übung IV), BWV 988 (BC L9) Variatio 18. Canone Alla Sexta 20. Goldberg Variations, for Keyboard (Clavier-Übung IV)