becoming

I start listening more Bach since ’93, all because of Glenn Gould‘s ’55 & ’81 recordings of Goldberg Variations. Many have argued about the tempo and techniques Gould employed (apart from his eccentricity), but it is through these recordings that bring me in awe to the mathematical beauty and grand structure of Bach’s music, and encourage me to dare to question orthodoxies.

Other than Gould’s version, I have also listened to Hewitt’s and Perahia’s recordings. I think Perahia’s recent recording is the finest on piano since Gould’s. For Hewitt’s, it is clean and delightful. I always compare it to listening Mitsuko Uchida’s Mozart Sonata. While it works for Mozart, I personally don’t prefer such style on Bach’s.

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Recent BBC’s programme “Discovering Music” on Goldberg Variations