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Bach Goldberg Variations

Postern Park Digital PPD 009 [80 mins; recorded 12-15 April 2005]
Contact 01732 773322

A very distinguished set from Ana Sliwa, a young Polish harpsichordist who has studied in Warsaw, and latterly in Bergen and at London's Royal Academy of Music.

She has an innate sense of expressive phrasing, never overdone, and her account of this oft-recorded masterwork fully vindicates commentator R.G Rawson's conclusion that whilst the Goldbergs have also become an important and popular work for pianists, it is really only the double-manual harpsichord where Bach's particular demands can be realised - - .

The Ruckers copy (Kilström, 2000) is a formidable instrument, strong tone - especially in the bass - and very responsive to nuances from the player. Its provenance is not given (for security reasons, maybe?) as might be the case

All Saints' Church at Tudely in Kent, famous for its Chagall windows, is a fine concert and recording venue, and the studio recording standards are of the highest.

This is a wholly recommendable release by a musician I look forward to hearing play live.

Peter Grahame Woolf

See also Li-Chun Su at the Tudeley Festival, 2008 [Editor]