16th Variation - A heroic French Overture with fugue.  There are some
commanding versions including Gould(81), both Turecks, and Jarrett on ECM.
Schirmer is quite heroic in the overture but with too many hesitations; her
fugue has no strength and approaches hushed tones.  That's an interesting
avenue to take, but I feel that much of the fugue's attractiveness comes
from its strength.  Feltsman also hesitates too much in the overture; his
fugue is excellent until the repeat where he again goes to the higher
register.  Labadie, although using the big string sound, gives a fine
performance of heroic proportion which I still feel misses Bach.  Rosen
joins the 'commanding' group with an overture with a slow tempo similar
to the Tureck recordings; he is the height of heroism, and his fugue is
powerful and exciting.  Pinnock's performance is excellent, but the sound
is brittle and busy.

17th Variation - I love this piece for the inherent contrast provided
by music which is very precise yet has a strong element of breaking
apart. Of course, Bach keeps it all together.  Tureck on DG is my favorite
version:  very slow, detailed, with an exceptional highlighting of
contrasts.  Schirmer is quite similar to Tureck; in fact, I have to believe
that she is very familiar with Tureck's performance.  Regardless, it's a
wonderful interpretation fully equal to Tureck.  Although not as good,
Feltsman and Rosen give highly rewarding readings.  Pinnock would be in
that rewarding category except for skipping both repeats.  Labadie is
moderately enjoyable, but displays a significant lack of precison or
"break-up", sounding like nothing more than a nice day in the park.

18th Variation - Music that radiates joy and satisfaction with an
infectious playfulness, all of which is draped in ceremony.  Hewitt
on Hyperion and Xiao-Mei for Mandala are magical standards to achieve.
Ragna Schirmer takes a different approach than the norm; she is very slow,
sad, and even melancholy.  Playfulness and joy do not enter the picture.
Although I very much like her performance, I do think that she leaves out
the most rewarding expressive areas of the music.  Pinnock gets everything
right, but that busy sound is a detriment.  Labadie plays the variation
as a lullaby; don't listen to this version while lying down.  Rosen is
surprising demure to the music's detriment.  Feltsman is perfect in the
first theme, then totally ruins the repeat by moving to a much higher
register and substituing his notes for Bach's.  Guess what? He does the
exact same thing in the second theme as well.  Feltsman is doing a great
job of sabotaging quite a few of his performances.  There isn't any magic
in this group.

19th Variation - This is wonderfully joyous music of pristine quality.
Schirmer uses a slow pace and a staccato approach.  Although that's
fine with me, she's also too subdued and sometimes weak with right hand
projection.  Rosen, like Schirmer, uses a staccato approach, but his
performance is fast and too emphatic.  Labadie's consort peformance is
excellent although he makes the music quite sad and haunting.  Pinnock is
certainly joyful and pristine, but there's some depth missing; he can't
compare to Suzuki's outstanding version on BIS.  If Feltsman doesn't come
through, I'm going to be in the embarrassing position of declaring
Labadie's the best version of the five.  Well, it's a draw.  Feltsman
is even faster than Rosen, but Feltsman is thrilling in the first theme.
Unfortunately, he has a couple of speed-ups and awkward phrasing in the
second theme.  At least he ties Labadie, but neither of them approaches
the excellence of Suzuki, Koroliov on Hanssler, Gould(81) or Hewitt.

20th Variation - A fast Courante of pleasing disposition.  Murray Perahia's
reading is one of the best, providing the excitement of the music without
any loss in lyricism; his technical display is also very impressive.
Labadie's consort approach is slower than Perahia but nicely done.
Feltsman gets a little messy with phrasing, and I don't feel that the piece
hangs together well in his hands.  Pinnock, Rosen, and Schirmer are every
bit as good as Perahia; Schirmer's tempo is a little slower than the others
but remains very exciting.

21st Variation - This is my desert island variation, and Gould(81) is a
superb piano version to take along.  Feltsman is very slow and very good,
although at the pace he uses I would have liked stronger accenting at
times.  Rosen provides the momentum of Gould, but he largely eschews
Gould's frequent and short shifts in tempo and dynamics.  By doing
so, Rosen makes the music less interesting and more restricted in
expressiveness.  Ragna Schirmer also does not engage in much shifting
and achieves the same results as Rosen.  Labadie's glossy and big band
performance is one I can't take seriously.  Verlet is my favorite
harpsichord version; she uses an approach similar to Gould although she's
not as poignant.  Pinnock is much slower than Verlet; he is unfortunately
less angular as well.  He reminds me some of Feltsman.  Gould and Verlet
aren't close to being matched by any of these five versions.

22nd Variation - Wonderful and heroic music which Gould and particularly
Tureck on Philips deliver beautifully.  By contrast, Rosen applies little
ceremony or angularity to his interpretation and misses the greatness of
the music; his is a good but smoothed-over performance.  Feltsman starts
off magnificently in the first subject, then applies excessive strength
with his left hand to the repeat; he does the same in the second subject.
At least he's consistent.  Schirmer employs Tureck's slow tempo, but the
similarities end there.  Her heroism is at a much lower level and she's too
soft toned in the first subject; she does improve measureably in the second
subject with enhanced vitality.  Pinnock supplies a healthy degree of
ceremony and angularity, besting the three piano versions.  Labadie gives
another glossy and unacceptable performance.  Tureck gets no effective
competition from this grouping.

23rd Variation - Joyful music with a rollercoaster effect.  Gould(81) is
an excellent version with fast speed and technical command in abundance.
Feltsman, although slower, often sounds clumsy with awkward phrasing;
I also question some of his embellishments.  Labadie is very slow with
a consort performance which is pretty good but no more rewarding than
Feltsman.  Even Rosen catches the clumsy phrasing bug a few times, but he
has great forward momentum and the rollercoaster ride is quite exciting.
There are no clumsy moments for Schirmer, but her slow tempo excludes any
significant excitement; she sounds occasionally staid in the first subject.
Pinnock is excellent with complete technical command and a great ride.

24th Variation - It doesn't happen often, but now and then I hear a
performance which my brain tells me has much wrong with it but I still
can't resist.  That's how I feel about Feltsman's performance; it's
ridiculously loud in spots, very fast, and sounds sectional.  Even so,
he possesses a rhythm and bounce that's magic to my ears.  Rosen is also
exceptional with a very slow tempo and close examination of every note.
These two versions rival the best such as Suzuki on BIS and Gould(81).  Not
far behind are Schirmer and Pinnock; he again skips the repeats.  Labadie
is still on his "Bach Goes to Hollywood" routine, but I derived some
pleasure from his performance.

25th Variation - I have remarked in previous reviews that very slow (9
minutes plus) versions of the Black Pearl tend to go on forever.  Feltsman,
close to 10 minutes, gives a transcendent interpretation loaded with
dynamic shadings and great depth.  This might even be better than Tureck's
on DG.  The other four versions do well.  Labadie's consort performance is
very interesting; I'd like to hear a different one providing more depth.

26th Variation - An outstanding toccata where the right hand provides
the lyricism and the left hand the tension/excitement by a galloping and
never-ceasing pulse.  Labadie's chamber orhcestra approach is much too
syrupy.  Rosen is likely too fast, and he plays too softly throughout; this
is most damaging to a sensation of the building up of tension in the second
subject.  Feltsman does well with a dynamic left hand.  Pinnock provides
one of the best harpsichord versions I've heard.  My standard for this
music has been Koroliov with the best mix of lyricism and tension of any
version; his build-up of tension in the second subject is wonderful.
Schirmer now joins him with an exceptional reading which is fast, highly
lyrical, and has a build-up of tension equal to Koroliov; her performance
delivers a whirlwind of activity.

27th Variation - This is one of Bach's most joyous and best pieces of
music.  Gould(81) and Tureck(Philips) are outstanding issues, one fast
and exhilarating, the other slow and introspective.  Schirmer is very good
with just a little less vitality than Gould.  Feltsman provides the extra
vitality missing in Schirmer's performance, but he also gives us some
clumsy left hand banging and that higher register delivery.  I love Rosen's
legato/flow, and the joy in his reading can't help but impact one's mood.
His version holds its own with Gould and Tureck.  Pinnock, being quick and
skipping repeats, is over almost as soon as it starts.  Although well
played, he's not good enough in this variation to offset the short playing
time.  Labadie's consort reading is very nice, about at the level of
Schirmer.

28th Variation - Another wonderful and joyous variation which, in the hands
of Blandine Verlet and Andras Schiff, has magical properties of expressive
variety; beams of joy hit me from a multitude of directions.  This is also
a variation where trills are dominant, and both Verlet and Schiff execute
them to perfection.  Schirmer sounds great in isolation, but compared to
the best, she is too demure with lessened variety.  Pinnock's major
problem is a fast tempo combined with a sharp harpsichord sound that can
approximate a dentist's drill coming your way.  Rosen sounds to be in a
hurry and sectional, although his variety of expression is admirable.
Feltsman again takes to the higher register in the first repeat and shows
some awkwardness.  But, his pacing and joy are superb, and variety is all
encompassing.  His version is not at Verlet or Schiff's level, but it's
mighty close.  The Labadie consort performance is slow and very beautiful,
but the spark is low; just listen for its lovely and haunting qualities.

29th Variation - A perfect musical example of how to convey power and
tension by hitting the envelope but never breaking it.  Pierre Hantai is
currently my favorite version; he's quick, highly lyrical, tremendously
exciting, and never loses control although it seems inevitable.  Labadie's
Hollywood reading is very low on every aspect of the variation that I find
appealing except for tonal beauty; that appears to be his particular focus.
Schirmer largely misses the tension and excitement; nothing is anywhere
near the edge; Labadie is preferable.  Pinnock is also on the low end with
another performance with no repeats which is over so quickly; further, his
reading is nothing special.  Feltsman is on the right road barrelling
toward the edge of it, just not as daring as Hantai.  Rosen is a little
less daring and tense than Feltsman.

30th Variation - Heroic music which can give the listener the fortitude to
conquer any challenge.  Lifschitz on Denon gives a slow reading of great
ceremony and postive/joyful resolution; it's a favorite of mine.  Another
favorite is Verlet's more angular reading.  Rosen is too smooth with little
strength in his accenting; he makes the music into a nice little tune.
Pinnock's slow tempo and insufficient tonal beauty is problematic, although
he is much more expressive than Rosen.  Feltsman and Schirmer are a few
steps up from Pinnock with beautiful and heroic readings.  Labadie returns
to the glossy sound with results that are at Rosen's level.

Aria da capo - There are no surprises here.  Each performance conveys the
same basics from the opening aria, although a few do not observe all repeats
as they did in the opening.

Conclusions:

Labadie's recording is not recommended.  This is not an issue of period
instruments vs.  their modern counterparts.  Labadie doesn't sound like a
Karajan or Solti; he sounds like tinsel-town.  Bach goes to Hollywood.

Pinnock, Schirmer, and Rosen are easy to recommend but with some caveats.
Rosen has a style which reminds me of Gould, but he's simply not as good.
I read a review that indicated that Schirmer did not have an "indentity" in
her recording.  I think she does have one; it's the search for the beauty
in Bach's music, and she does very well in conveying it.  Her disadvantage
is a premium price for two discs without any additional works.  Pinnock's
disadvantage is a brittle harpsichord sound in many of the more exuberant
variations.

That leaves Feltsman who has his share of technical problems and the
highest register penchant in repeats.  Actually, from the 12th variation
on, he is as good as any of the other four artists.  Also, he does his best
work in the variations of greatest depth.  There are a few of his readings
I would hate to be without.  I can't recommend his recording highly, but
his version is the most rewarding of the five.

Don Satz
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