András Schiff returns to the Goldberg Variations in what will be regarded as one of the classical music events of the year. Two decades after his acclaimed account of the Variations for Decca, Schiff documents Bach’s towering masterpiece again, this time in a live recording for ECM New Series. As the New York Times said, “Mr Schiff is, in Bach, a phenomenon. He has quite simply internalized this music. He doesn’t so much perform it as emit, breathe it.” The fluency of the playing in this concert recording from Basel is quietly astonishing, the technical demands of the work transcended with uncanny gracefulness.
Johann Sebastian Bach: Goldberg Variations
András Schiff
- Goldberg Variations BWV 988
- 1Aria03:46
- 2Variatio 1 (a 1 Clav.)01:50
- 3Variatio 2 (a 1 Clav.)01:22
- 4Variatio 3. Canone all'unisono (a 1 Clav.)02:02
- 5Variatio 4 (a 1 Clav.)01:02
- 6Variatio 5 (a 1 ô vero 2 Clav.)01:32
- 7Variatio 6. Canone alla Seconda (a 1 Clav.)01:20
- 8Variatio 7. Al tempo di Giga (a 1 ô vero 2 Clav.)01:33
- 9Variatio 8 (a 2 Clav.)01:42
- 10Variatio 9. Canone alla Terza (a 1 Clav.)01:26
- 11Variatio 10. Fughetta (a 1 Clav.)01:35
- 12Variatio 11 (a 2 Clav.)02:00
- 13Variatio 12. Canone alla Quarta (a 1 Clav.)01:55
- 14Variatio 13 (a 2 Clav.)04:13
- 15Variatio 14 (a 2 Clav.)01:59
- 16Variatio 15. Canone alla Quinta. Andante (a 1 Clav.)03:53
- 17Variatio 16. Ouverture (a 1 Clav.)02:36
- 18Variatio 17 (a 1 Clav.)02:10
- 19Variatio 18. Canone alla Sesta (a 1 Clav.)01:16
- 20Variatio 19 (a 1 Clav.)01:21
- 21Variatio 20 (a 2 Clav.)01:50
- 22Variatio 21. Canone alla Settima (a 1 Clav.)01:50
- 23Variatio 22. Alla breve (a 1 Clav.)01:50
- 24Variatio 23 (a 2 Clav.)02:07
- 25Variatio 24. Canone all' Ottava (a 1 Clav.)02:17
- 26Variatio 25. Adagio (a 2 Clav.)06:54
- 27Variatio 26 (a 2 Clav.)02:06
- 28Variatio 27. Canone alla Nona (a 2 Clav.)01:37
- 29Variatio 28 (a 2 Clav.)02:48
- 30Variatio 29 (a 1 ô vero 2 Clav.)01:46
- 31Variatio 30. Quodibet (a 1 ô vero 2 Clav.)01:20
- 32Aria03:56
(…) Er hat sich unendlich mehr Gedanken gemacht, als in Worte zu fassen sind. Sein Klavierspiel ist ruhig, übersichtlich, in den Tempi unspektakulär. Nie gibt er den Neunmalklugen, den Experimentator, jede Variation ist bei ihm ein atmendes Gebilde. Aber seine Details grenzen an Wahnsinn. Weil der Ungar jede vorgeschriebene Wiederholung spielt, gewinnt er Raum für seine Methodik der Abweichung. Es ergeben sich neue Tönungen wie Echos, die sich verselbstständigen, oder dialektische Manöver in Phrasierung und Artikulation. Schiff lässt sich überdies – darin Barocker Praxis nahe – Verzierungen einfallen, dass man aus dem Staunen nicht herauskommt. (…) So ist es denn ein pausenlos frohgemutes Entdecken mit dem doppelten Reiseführer Schiff. Wie gut, dass die beiden einander kennen: Während der eine verblüffend fantasievoll spielt, holt der andere zu einer Erklärung aus: Es sei hier, „als lachten die Götter im Olymp.“ Bach lacht mit.
Wolfram Goertz, Die Zeit
Seine Einspielung ist von der Idee eines idealen Nebeneinanders aller Momente des Werkes getragen, von der Vorstellung, es könne so etwas geben wie eine glückliche Vollversammlung der Töne unter der Hand eines unaufdringlichen Pianisten. Und gerade durch diese Unaufdringlichkeit werden noch kleinste Veränderungen zum Ereignis. (…) András Schiff lässt den Flügel singen, sein Ton ist von eminenter Schönheit und doch zart und behutsam genug, um das polyphone Gewebe nicht zu durchschlagen, sondern transparent werden zu lassen, in der ganzen Breite des Instruments zwischen kristallinem Diskant und kräftigem Basston. Das ist um so erstaunlicher, als diese Aufnahme bei einem Konzert entstand. (..) Der Eindruck des lebendigen Raums ist für den Hörer der Schallplatte geblieben. Wie das gelingen konnte, ist ein Rätsel.
Thomas Steinfeld, Süddeutsche Zeitung
Wo Gould das Werk als ein auch für die Öffentlichkeit bestimmtes „Gegen“ vorstellt, ist Schiff offenbar mit seinem „Für“ ganz an der Struktur des Werkes, dem harmonisch-melodischen Kern und den geheimen Verbindungslinien interessiert, die die dreißig Variationen, umrahmt von der zu Beginn und am Ende gespielten Aria zusammenhalten. Die Aria hat man wohl noch nie so agogisch frei gehört wie bei Schiff; ein mit funkelnden Verzierungen, aufblühenden Klängen und Obertonschwebungen erscheinendes Mysterium, das in den folgenden Variationen allerdings dann seinen ganzen, in ihm schon enthaltenen Reichtum entfaltet. András Schiff besitzt überlegene Technik, hochdifferenzierten Klangsinn und erstaunliches Gespür für die metaphysische Struktur, das heißt für die von Bach erdachte symmetrische Architektur des Werkes. Und so gelingt es ihm (..) so etwas wie eine wunderbare Erzählhaltung einzunehmen oder eine Klangreise durchzuführen, bei der man sich an die Hand genommen fühlt wie Dante von Vergil auf seinem Gang durch die Labyrinthe des Purgatorio.
Wolfgang Sandner, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Schiff erzählt seine Reise durch die ganzen Haupt-und Nebengebäude dieser gewaltigen, kunstvoll verwinkelten Anlage – durch die Ballsäle, die Andachtszimmer, die Harmonielehreklausuren – perfekt auch mit seinem rhetorisch präzisen, porzellanhaften Anschlag. Aus einer entspannten Mitte geht und springt Schiff durch den Bau, stoppt manchmal fast und staunt und sinniert ein bisschen, sprintet dann weiter. Komplett gesandstrahlt hat er die Räume, die Farben aufgefrischt, Ornamentenwerk hervorgeholt, Stimmen gefunden unter der Firnis. Schön ist das alles, selbst die verschatteten Ecken sind licht und heiter. Eine himmlische Gemüths-Ergetzung.
Elmar Krekeler, Welt
This live performance in Basel comes 20 years after Schiff´s first recording of this work, and is absolutely magnificent, (..) the result of a lifetime´s devotion to Bach. The journey he takes us on, and the simple return of the opening aria is quite overwhelming.
Paul Driver, Sunday Times
I would count this as one of Schiff´s finest Bach recordings, a meeting of the performance challenge and a coming together of heart and mind on the highest level.
Stephen Plaistow, Gramophone
This is a fascinating, beautiful, deeply pondered and profoundly pianistic Goldbergs, and while not „authentic“ in the accepted scholarly sense, it is appreciative of Baroque manners and ornamentation. Schiff is essential for those who want to listen beyond the notes. He´s also beautifully recorded on a mellow, finely tuned Steinway.
Rob Cowan, Gramophone
Schiff retains a special quality in Bach that is like no other, except that now his sensitivity as to how the work´s structural interfaces relate at all levels is even more penetrating. (…) In Schiff´s hands the Goldbergs sound like the work of a master composer exhilarating in his own creative genius. Music that in less enlightened hands has become imprisoned by the political correctness of authentic good manners, is here set free of all constraints and allowed to breathe with an intoxicating vitality and exhilaration. Even if you already have several versions of Bach´s inexhautible masterwork weighing down your heaving shelves, this revelatory account demands to be heard.
Simon Hodges, International Piano
The experience is compelling from beginning to end, both in terms of the understanding and delineation of the ever-increasing complexities of the variations which the aria undergoes and the clear architectural and thematic logic that binds the whole strcture together. (…) The strikingly improvisational quality of the playing never compromises a deeper sense of communion ofered by the interpretation as a whole. The audience remains hushed throughout, and, with beautifully balanced sound quality, the piano not too close, with plenty of space around it, Schiff journeys with intrepid discovery to achieve a new landmark fort he Goldbergs.
Ian Julier, International Record Review
20 years after his acclaimed account of the Goldberg Variations for Decca, András Schiff documents Bach’s towering masterpiece again, this time in a live recording for ECM New Series.
As the New York Times said, “Mr Schiff is, in Bach, a phenomenon. He doesn’t so much perform it as emit, breathe it.” Made to address the changes that have taken place in his approach to Bach, (and also in response to numerous requests from fellow musicians and the public), Schiff’s new Goldberg recording is, from multiple perspectives, a major event. The fluency of the playing in this concert recording from Basel is quietly astonishing, the technical demands of the work transcended with uncanny gracefulness.
The old Decca recording, long regarded by music critics as one of the most distinguished Goldberg interpretations, was the work of an exceptional young musician who had already been playing the work for a decade. Indeed, even before his first public performance of the work, in Budapest in 1975, he had been “slowly working on it for four to five years.” Schiff received additional insight via his studies in London with George Malcolm, the great harpsichordist and expert on baroque performance practise. Although the Goldberg Variations were written for a two-manual harpsichord, “Mr Malcolm, a universal musician, always encouraged me to play Bach on the modern piano, with varied articulation, imaginative phrasing and minimal (if any) use of the sustaining pedal… The main question has to be, how do we play Bach’s music? His manuscripts give us very little information on certain aspects of interpretation: tempo, dynamics, phrasing, articulation, ornamentation. The performer was expected to fill in the gaps by following his musical knowledge and instinct. So, the pianist should not be a slave, but rather a re-creator. Bach’s text is sacred, but he gives us the liberty to make certain choices and decisions.”
On the structure of the work: “The strict observance of repeats is quite crucial in these Variations. When I was younger I tried to use all the resources available to achieve variety. These included transposing certain sections an octave up or down, something that could easily be done on the two-manual harpsichord with registration. So this was my homage to the harpsichord. It also emphasizes one aspect of my approach: the joy of playing, playfulness. Nevertheless twenty years later we may prefer subtler means.”
ECM recorded several performances of András Schiff playing the Goldberg Variations in the autumn of 2001, from which the pianist selected the Basel concert for release. Schiff feels the concert setting is optimal for the Goldberg:
“My view of the Goldberg Variations is largely helped by the live recording. It is a long journey and I believe in continuity. It’s not a fragmented sequence of 32 excerpts. The overall plan, the division of groups, rests, silences – they all depend on careful timing, which can only be achieved naturally in a live performance.”
One point in which this recording is clearly superior to its predecessor is the sound – attributable to Schiff’s ever more subtle touch and also to the instrument employed. András Schiff: “These days I always play a piano prepared by Maestro Angelo Fabbrini in Pescara, Italy. These instruments are perfectly voiced and tuned and possess a special ‘shining’ quality. I believe in the cantabile art of piano playing and this piano can sing. Twenty years ago I played the best available piano in London because I didn’t know anything better. There are, however, great differences between pianos, and technicians. Today I travel with my own piano and technician, Mr Rocco Cicchella, and I’m very happy.”
The CD booklet contains a “Guided Tour” of the Goldberg Variations, specially written by András Schiff for this release. At its conclusion he asks: “Isn't it understandable that every musician would want to play this wonderful work? Its deep humanity, spirituality, optimism and intellectual power speak to us directly in these 'distracted times'. This is one of those few journeys that can be repeated again and again.”
Also exclusive to this edition: a prologue, in acrostic form, by Indian writer Vikram Seth, well-known author of “An Equal Music”, “A Suitable Boy”, and “The Golden Gate”.
As the New York Times said, “Mr Schiff is, in Bach, a phenomenon. He doesn’t so much perform it as emit, breathe it.” Made to address the changes that have taken place in his approach to Bach, (and also in response to numerous requests from fellow musicians and the public), Schiff’s new Goldberg recording is, from multiple perspectives, a major event. The fluency of the playing in this concert recording from Basel is quietly astonishing, the technical demands of the work transcended with uncanny gracefulness.
The old Decca recording, long regarded by music critics as one of the most distinguished Goldberg interpretations, was the work of an exceptional young musician who had already been playing the work for a decade. Indeed, even before his first public performance of the work, in Budapest in 1975, he had been “slowly working on it for four to five years.” Schiff received additional insight via his studies in London with George Malcolm, the great harpsichordist and expert on baroque performance practise. Although the Goldberg Variations were written for a two-manual harpsichord, “Mr Malcolm, a universal musician, always encouraged me to play Bach on the modern piano, with varied articulation, imaginative phrasing and minimal (if any) use of the sustaining pedal… The main question has to be, how do we play Bach’s music? His manuscripts give us very little information on certain aspects of interpretation: tempo, dynamics, phrasing, articulation, ornamentation. The performer was expected to fill in the gaps by following his musical knowledge and instinct. So, the pianist should not be a slave, but rather a re-creator. Bach’s text is sacred, but he gives us the liberty to make certain choices and decisions.”
On the structure of the work: “The strict observance of repeats is quite crucial in these Variations. When I was younger I tried to use all the resources available to achieve variety. These included transposing certain sections an octave up or down, something that could easily be done on the two-manual harpsichord with registration. So this was my homage to the harpsichord. It also emphasizes one aspect of my approach: the joy of playing, playfulness. Nevertheless twenty years later we may prefer subtler means.”
ECM recorded several performances of András Schiff playing the Goldberg Variations in the autumn of 2001, from which the pianist selected the Basel concert for release. Schiff feels the concert setting is optimal for the Goldberg:
“My view of the Goldberg Variations is largely helped by the live recording. It is a long journey and I believe in continuity. It’s not a fragmented sequence of 32 excerpts. The overall plan, the division of groups, rests, silences – they all depend on careful timing, which can only be achieved naturally in a live performance.”
One point in which this recording is clearly superior to its predecessor is the sound – attributable to Schiff’s ever more subtle touch and also to the instrument employed. András Schiff: “These days I always play a piano prepared by Maestro Angelo Fabbrini in Pescara, Italy. These instruments are perfectly voiced and tuned and possess a special ‘shining’ quality. I believe in the cantabile art of piano playing and this piano can sing. Twenty years ago I played the best available piano in London because I didn’t know anything better. There are, however, great differences between pianos, and technicians. Today I travel with my own piano and technician, Mr Rocco Cicchella, and I’m very happy.”
The CD booklet contains a “Guided Tour” of the Goldberg Variations, specially written by András Schiff for this release. At its conclusion he asks: “Isn't it understandable that every musician would want to play this wonderful work? Its deep humanity, spirituality, optimism and intellectual power speak to us directly in these 'distracted times'. This is one of those few journeys that can be repeated again and again.”
Also exclusive to this edition: a prologue, in acrostic form, by Indian writer Vikram Seth, well-known author of “An Equal Music”, “A Suitable Boy”, and “The Golden Gate”.
| YEAR | DATE | VENUE | LOCATION | |
| 2026 | May 28 | Kursaal | Bad Honnef, Germany | |
| 2026 | June 06 | Musikverein | Vienna, Austria | |
| 2026 | June 11 | Gewandhaus | Leipzig, Germany | |
| 2026 | June 13 | Gewandhaus | Leipzig, Germany | |
| 2026 | June 19 | Wigmore Hall | London, United Kingdom | |
| 2026 | June 21 | Wigmore Hall | London, United Kingdom | |
| 2026 | June 24 | Château du Clos de Vougeot | Vougeot, France | |
| 2026 | June 25 | Hôtel-Dieu Hospices de Beaune | Vougeot, France | |
| 2026 | June 29 | Théâtre des Champs-Élysées | Paris, France | |
| 2026 | July 02 | Klavier-Festival-Ruhr | Essen, Germany | |
| 2026 | July 04 | Evian-les-Bains | La Source Vive, France | |
| 2026 | July 09 | Kammermusikfestival - Pfarrkirche | Lockenhaus, Switzerland | |
| 2026 | July 28 | Verbier Festival | Verbier, Switzerland | |
| 2026 | July 31 | Kirche Saanen | Saanen, Switzerland |
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