BIS released the Goldberg Variations performed on harpsichord by Masaaki
Suzuki over a year ago.  Suzuki is also the conductor of the Bach cantata
series on the same label and is apparently heavily immersed in Bach these
days.

A few weeks ago, I raved about the Hantai version of the Goldbergs on
Opus 111.  Suzuki's version is on a similarly high level.  He is fully
expressive and has a fantastic sense of phrasing and pacing with one
exception - the aria.  Here, he displays a tendency for little hesitations
which are slightly annoying; one magazine reviewer described it as
"horizontal stretching".

One other feature which a listener might find troublesome, although I
didn't, is that most of the variations where Suzuki eliminates repeats
are slow ones; you could end up feeling that the work becomes skewed to
one side.  Again, I did not have this reaction.

Recorded sound is superb:  rich and clear as a bell.  Overall, Suzuki
shares center stage with Hantai (perhaps a half-step behind) for
harpsichord versions of recent vintage.  For recent piano versions,
Peter Serkin and Tureck head the list.

Don's conclusion: Must Buy - unless you're extremely particular about
repeats.

Don Satz
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