Posted by Sari
I have been surfing radio stations on the net to find good classical stations that are not all about lollipops, like Sir Thomas Beecham used to call the short easy favourites. I was listening to Classical KingFM (a very good choise because as it is night in West Coast when I am working, they play whole works), and tuned in just in time to hear the tail end of the Goldberg Variations. And had to stop working because that was not backround music. Modern piano, beautiful touch, clear, gorgeous sound. I had almost forgotten how it feels when an interpretation really hits all your buttons.
The thing is, I already have two great Goldberg’s. Gould’s 1981 version which is idiosyncratic but defenitely worth all the hype, and Leonhardt’s last, precise harpsicord version, which in its serenity is a wonderful counterbalance to Gould. Even so and even though there are a mindboggling amount of stuff I only have on vinyl or not at all, I think the next time I invest in a CD it just has to be Murray Perahia’s Goldberg Variations. (Sony Classical SK/SM 89243). Just wow.
Eating Muffins 