Not long ago, I reviewed Murray Perahia's recording for Sony of Bach's
Goldberg Variations.  My conclusion was that the disc was very good and
about on the level of Angela Hewitt's fine account on Hyperion.  I did
express the reservation that Perahia's interpretations were mainstream and
not particularly distinctive.

Since that time, I have read nothing but reviews of glowing praise for
Perahia's Goldbergs.  Gramophone selected it as their disc of the month,
and today I read in American Record Guide that Perahia's version ranks with
the absolute best.  The ARG reviewer's comment on how Perahia plays the 7th
Variation was quite interesting to me - "Naturally, many variations have a
vivid sense of character that I expect from a seasoned artist like Perahia;
the moderate but joyous Variation 7 is the one I remember best".  In my
comments on Perahia's 7th Variation, I stated that his performance was
"dominated by pervasive trills - unacceptable".  After listening again to
Perahia's performance, Variation 7 sounds no better to me than it did when
I prepared my review.  The ARG reviewer must love trills.

I fully realize that differences of opinion are common and expected, but it
does strike me that from the perspective of most reviewers, Perahia can do
no wrong.  Another pianist with a huge reputation is Pollini.  In his case,
most reviewers seem to love to criticize his recordings.

Does anyone have an opinion as to why Perahia has such a coveted status
among reviewers while Pollini gets the raspberries?

Don Satz
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