Johann Sebastian Bach, the Goldberg Variations (Deutsche Grammophon 4864556, 2023); Víkingur Ólafsson
I grew up with Glenn Gould’s Goldberg Variations. My father had his 1956 debut recording on Columbia Masterworks (ML 5060) that established the then-24-year-old pianist as a virtuoso of note, and he had it on our Sony Music System all the time. (Gould had recorded a…
Johann Sebastian Bach, The Well Tempered Clavier Book I (Columbia Masterworks D3L 333, 1965) and The Well Tempered Clavier Book 2 (Columbia Masterworks D3M 31525, 1972); Glenn Gould
I’m Canadian, and of a certain vintage, so Glenn Gould is kind of synonymous with Johann Sebastian Bach in my mind. This is what I grew up with, and it is how I expect Bach to sound on the piano. Make no mistake, I love so many other performances just as well –…
Tomaso Albinoni, Six Concertos Pour Hautbois (Erato, EFM 18024, 1975) – Pierre Pierlot, Oboe, I Solisti Veneti conducted by Claudio Scimone
This was one of my father’s favourite records. It has been in the family since the 70s – I am pretty sure that my father bought it at Sam the Record Man as soon as it came out in 1975 – and this record provides a tangible connection to my father, who died in 2012, and…