It certainly sounds like a great deal.  Buy one disc and get the Goldbergs
plus almost a dozen selections from the Anna Magdalena Notebook *and* the
fourteen Canons on the eight basic notes of the Goldberg Aria.  This is
the programming provided by Harmonia Mundi's recent disc featuring pianist
Andrei Vieru who is the son of the composer Anatol Vieru.  The catalog
number is HMC 901666, hand-picked by the Devil himself.

Of course, what sounds good on the surface often fizzles when looked at
further.  Although this disc has almost 76 minutes of music, only about 52
minutes is devoted to the main composition and Vieru is not the fastest of
performers.  Therefore, we don't get much in the way of repeats from him.
I can live without repeats when the performances are of a very high quality
such as with Gilbert, Rose, Leonhardt, or Gould.  Lesser artists need all
the repeats they can get.  The matter for me to address is which category
Vieru falls into.

Mr. Vieru is definitely at a very high level of performance and
interpretation.  I'd say he's a natural in Bach.  Every variation
strikes at the heart of Bach's music.  Vieru does have his quirks including
engaging in slowdowns now and then in the slower variations.  But it really
doesn't matter.  Vieru *is* this music completely.  Whatever he does, it
works out magnificently.  Pick any variation, and the man is living it.
His rhythmic pulse and vitality are the best I've heard in any version of
the Goldbergs.

Verlet, Gilbert, Koroliov, Hantai, Perahia, Hewitt, and a few others
give excellent performances of the Goldberg Variations.  Andrei Vieru's
performances are better than theirs, and I believe they rival the Gould and
Tureck recordings.  I could run through each variation and rave about each
of them, but I'd rather listen than write.

Concerning the other tracks on the disc, be assured that Vieru brings the
same command of Bach's idiom to these pieces as well.  I really love the
depth he gives the chorals from the Anna Magdalena Notebook.

Important Sound Consideration - This review almost ended up being much less
complimentary.  With audio controls at the usual levels, I found Vieru's
right hand playing to be rather flat and subservient to the left hand.  At
some point I boosted the treble way up(bass up a little)and his right hand
and the music in general came amazingly to life.  I've never noticed such
as difference in a recording before.  Reviews have not been the kindest,
and I wonder if those reviewers made the necessary adjustments to listen to
the real Vieru.

Don's Conclusions: I praised a recent Bach recital recording by Celine
Frisch on Harmonia Mundi.  This same label has another superb young Bach
performer in Andrei Vieru whose Goldbergs Variations is one of the very
best.  I also recently praised a set from Karl Richter having the Goldberg
Variations and Partitas for Harpsichord.  Good times must be here again.
If you feel any connection with my general preferences, you must have the
Vieru recording as well as the Richter and Frisch.

Don Satz
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