Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988

Anne-Catherine Bucher

Released on 11-01-2019 by Naxos
Main artists: Anne-Catherine Bucher
Genre: Klassiek

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Language available : english

Bach's Goldberg Variations for keyboard, BWV 988, have been subjected to various kinds of analysis intended to come to terms with their vastness and uniqueness. Some are mathematical, some are programmatic; some posit explanations for the varied placement of the mysterious slow variations within the work. French harpsichordist Anne-Catherine Bucher deserves credit for coming up with an interpretation that no one else has hit on before. It takes as its point of departure the presence of an "Ouverture" in the middle of the work, as "Variation 16." This majestic variation, in Bucher's view, symbolizes the sun standing at the center of the universe (the ideas of Copernicus were not yet fully accepted by religious folk). In place of an overture at the beginning, then, the first two variations after the Aria have the function of an introduction, and the sequence of three-variation sets begins with the canon at the unison. The middle variation of each set of three symbolizes one of the planets, beginning with the Earth and followed by the Moon, then Mercury, Venus; and after the sun come Mars, Jupiter ("written in an antique and patriarchal style," and performed in an unusual style to match), Saturn, and finally, with "Variation 28," the stars in the sky. Points in favor of Bucher's concept include her placement of the canons at the beginning of each set of three variations; usually they are counted at the end, but Bucher's structure is somehow satisfying, even though in the Baroque mind the use of counterpoint as a concluding gesture was deeply ingrained. And her performance is appealing even if you don't read a word of her explanation. She keeps a good deal of forward momentum going, and she doesn't overemphasize the seemingly proto-Romantic qualities of the slow variations: she lets the pictorial aspect, if indeed there be such, speak for itself. Against this, of course, is that there is absolutely no indication that Bach had anything like this in mind (a defect, it must be admitted, that also plagues many other arcane Bach interpretations), and, more important, that the individual variations are rather tenuously tied to Bucher's overall scheme. Still, this is nicely recorded at the Centre Béthanie in Gorze, France, and it can be recommended to anyone fascinated by the monumental but enigmatic Goldbergs.
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Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988

Anne-Catherine Bucher

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