THE GOLDBERG VARIATIONS Johann Sebastian Bach
Fabio Bonizzoni
GCD P31508
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Performing artists
Fabio Bonizzoni, harpsichord
Production details
Playing time: 79’05 Recorded at Chiesa del Colletto, Roletto (Italy), in May 2004 Engineered by Adriaan Verstijnen Produced by Tini Mathot Executive producer: Carlos Céster Editorial assistant: María Díaz Cover design & illustrations: oficina tresminutos 00:03:00 Booklet essays: Stefano Russomanno and Reduán Ortega Booklet in English-Français-Español-Deutsch
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Commercial release sheet (PDF)
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JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750)
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988
aria variatio 1 variatio 2 variatio 3 - canone all'unisono variatio 4 variatio 5 variatio 6 - canone alla seconda variatio 7 - al tempo di giga variatio 8 variatio 9 - canone alla terza variatio 10 - fughetta variatio 11 variatio 12 - canone alla quarta variatio 13 variatio 14 variatio 15 - canone alla quinta variatio 16 - ouverture variatio 17 variatio 18 - canone alla sexta variatio 19 variatio 20 variatio 21 - canone alla settima variatio 22 - alla breve variatio 23 variatio 24 - canone all'ottava variatio 25 - adagio variatio 26 variatio 27 - canone alla nona variatio 28 variatio 29 variatio 30 - quodlibet aria da capo
About this CD
In this new stage we have begun at Glossa this year, where we exclusively present recordings that contribute something new while aspiring to last in the music lover’s memory and evade the implacable onslaught of the new market rules –in other words, where we raise even higher our already demanding quality standards–, introducing a new version of the Goldberg Variations would seem a risky venture, to say the least. But we assure you that, were we not certain of its success, we would not have launched thisproject.
The recording speaks for itself, and it is only a matter of months before it shares the Olympus of the Goldberg with Gould, Leonhardt, Tureck, and Hantaï. This is so because, difficult as it may seem, Bonizzoni manages to offer a new perspective which avoids all straining after effects and extravagance to present a magical, intelligent, subtle, solid, coherent, and current version. And everything cooperates to induce with this masterpiece the intellectual pleasure which only the greatest works of art can prompt: the music, the performance, the sound, the presentation (being featured in Platinum, our most contemporary collection, is quite a statement in itself), the essays... essays deserving a mention of their own, because both Stefano Russomanno and Reduán Ortega also achieve the almost unattainable: to further enrich the magical halo surrounding the best composition of all times.
Fabio Bonizzoni’s attention on record to the music of Handel - which has, thus far, yielded seven discs devoted to the early Italian-texted cantatas - has just now had the good fortune to receive this year’s Stanley Sadie Handel Recording Prize for Apollo e Dafne, the final release in the present series for Glossa. This is the third time that Bonizzoni and his period-instrument ensemble La Risonanza have won this prestigious prize for their series of “Le Cantate Italiane di Handel” (previous winners were the first release, Le Cantate per il Cardinal Pamphili and the fifth, Clori, Tirsi e Fileno); three other recordings have also featured as runners-up. [read more...]
Fabio Bonizzoni’s series, with La Risonanza, of Handel Italian cantate con stromenti for Glossa has now come to a conclusion with seven volumes recorded, but not before the group were awarded the 2010 Stanley Sadie Handel Recording Prize for the fifth instalment, Clori, Tirsi e Fileno (with sopranos Yetzabel Arias Fernández and Roberta Invernizzi and contralto Romina Basso in the three named roles). In commending the disc the jury of the Recording Prize made the following comments, “La Risonanza produces a delightful performance that presents all of the strengths and virtues we have come to associate with their recent explorations of Handel’s music. [read more...]
In the third instalment in Fabio Bonizzoni’s survey of the secular cantatas with instrumental accompaniment composed by Georg Frideric Handel during his stay in Italy, come a quartet of works associated with the Venice-born maecenas Pietro Ottoboni – including the substantial Ero e Leandro, the libretto for which is plausibly considered to have been written by the Cardinal Ottoboni himself. As well as the seldom-performed cantata for bass, Spande ancora a mio dispetto and Ah! Crudel, nel pianto mio scored for soprano solo, Bonizzoni also directs the Spanish-texted No se emendará jamás.[read more...]