Bach's Goldberg Variations

From a simple aria, Johann Sebastian Bach develops a variation cycle of extraordinary formal diversity: intricate canons, dance-like movements, virtuosic passages, and moments of quiet contemplation. One can follow its construction with intense focus - or surrender entirely to its sound.

At the end, the aria returns, the same as it began - yet heard differently. In the closing Quodlibet, Bach opens the work to playfulness and humour: intellectual clarity, but also wit and surprising freedom.

At the piano is Fatjona Maliqi, who has performed the Goldberg Variations for years as a cornerstone of her international concert repertoire. Her interpretation of this work was honoured at the International Rosalyn Tureck Bach Competition in New York.