J. S. Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV988 – Vladimir Feltsman (piano)

Feltsman’s touch is very deliberate, delicate, and of weightless elegance in the aria, though never ‘precious’. Very early on it becomes clear that Feltsman plays Bach more as if he were on a harpsichord than any pianist I have heard, but he doesn’t do it in the Gould way of trying to make the piano sound like the harpsichord it isn’t. No repeat is exactly as the first – there are always changes in registration, ornamentation, or voicing – sometimes all of them together. That can sound idiosyncratic, even here, but sufficient musical sensibility and taste prevent the playing from ever becoming a display of wayward vulgarity. Because you are always expecting something new, it makes for very alert ears. Undoubtedly a happy surprise – and one of the most charming piano accounts I have heard in a long time. — Jens F. Laurson, MusicWeb International