Search - Johann Sebastian Bach, Bernard Lagacé :: Bach: Goldberg Variations

Revelatory Organ Version of Bach's Superb Harpsichord Work

Leslie Richford | Selsingen, Lower Saxony | 05/29/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Johann Sebastian Bach, "Goldberg" Variations. Performed by Bernard Lagacé on an organ by Rudolf von Beckerath, made in 1961. Recorded in November 1995 at the Church of the Immaculate Conception (Èglise Immaculée-Conception) in Montreal, Canada. Total playing time: 77'40".



Bach originally wrote his "Goldberg" Variations for a harpsichord with two manuals, and if you want to hear it played as originally intended, you should look for the versions by Gustav Leonhardt (Bach: Goldberg Variations) - this is a recording without the repeats - or by Maggie Cole (Bach: Goldberg Variations) who plays everything. If, however, you are prepared to swallow your purist's pride and listen to this charming work on an organ, you could certainly do worse than to turn to Bernard Lagacé's recording for Analekta. The Beckerath organ which he plays is, technically, a "modern" instrument, but it seems to have been built according to 18th century specifications and has all those quaint-sounding registers ("Holzgedackt", "Rohrflute" etc) that one associates with organ music of this period. Lagacé, one of Canada's foremost Bach connoisseurs, plays with delightful ease and moderate tempi, allowing the structure of the work to become clearly audible. His registrations, all listed in the excellent inlay, seem to me spot-on, giving each variation, as he himself says in his annotations, its own character."

Goldberg at her grandest

F. Sng | Singapore | 06/02/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Canadian organist Bernard Lagace offers an interesting presentation of Bach's Goldberg Variations on the organ. He opens with the somber Aria and the variations spring to life thereafter. The variations come with a stately speed, without rush but certainly no lack of momentum either. He offers colourful registration, with each registration suited to the character of each variation. The Goldberg Variations, already a monumental piece on its own, is made even bigger by his rendition that certainly does the Beckerath organ at Eglise Immaculate-Conception justice. The playback level needs to be reduced to achieve a genuine and lifelike effect."