16th Variation - Heroic music in the style of a French Overture with an
energetic/celebratory fugue of strong momentum.  The overture is highly
angular and sharp; it contrasts boldly with the smoother style of the
fugue.

Jarrett's reading is surprisingly superb in the overture; I have mixed
feelings about his fugue.  It's quite slow and seamless, but gives
little excitement.  Hantai's fugue is an excellent antidote to Jarrett's.
Excitement and playfulness are abundant.  Yet, Hantai suffers some in the
overture with an excessively choppy performance.  Gilbert's reading is very
similar to Hantai's in both the overture and fugue.  Dershavina starts off
with a high level of heroism and strength, but she has moments when she
gets soft-toned.  Still, her overture is excellent; the fugue isn't close
to excellent as Dershavina sounds not very familiar with it and delivers
little energy.  Suzuki's overture is great except for some ornamentation I
don't care for; his fugue is a little slower and less exciting than Hantai
or Gilbert.

Xiao Mei's performance doesn't last long, and it's certainly not because
of a fast tempo in the overture; she's quite slow and romantic; in fact,
she provides a hero who should be embarrased to show his/her face in public.
Her fugue is fast but not exciting at all.  Given the lack of repeats and
lack of most everything else, this performance is not adequate from my
perspective - very disappointing.  Verlet's overture is second only to
Jarrett's, and her fugue is as good as Suzuki's.  Overall, I prefer
Jarrett's reading; his overture is outstanding and the fugue, although not
very exciting, compensates with some great seamless and dreamy playing.

17th Variation - Playful, strong, and energetic music.  Verlet does fairly
well, but Dershavina's stronger energy flow and faster tempo are very
appealing, particularly in the second subject.  Suzuki is quite slow and
of smooth disposition; there isn't much playfulness or strength.  His
interpretation reminds me of a more mature expression, one of satisfaction
- I like it very much and it is a lovely reading.

Jarrett is quicker and even smoother than Suzuki; it's also a very good
performance.  Gilbert is also highly rewarding but sounds a little awkward
once or twice.  Xiao Mei's performance is outstanding - fast, dynamic,
highly playful, and loaded with youthful energy.  Hantai's is the
harpsichord equivalent of Xiao Mei's great reading.  To me, there's a major
difference between Hantai's performances of the early variations compared
to the more recent ones.  Early on, his readings were consistently good but
no more than that.  At this point, he's providing a fine percentage of
superb interpretations with pin-point execution.

18th Variation - This is playful and happy music requiring a youthful
bounce.  Hantai meets all the requirements splendidly.  I love Suzuki's
bounce to the music, although his interpretation does not possess the
high level of youthfulness inherent in Hantai's reading.  Verlet is also
excellent with a delicious blend of staccato and legato.  Gilbert is just
about perfect.  His bounce beats Suzuki's and the level of innocent joy is
stunning.  Jarrett is very smooth with low but strong bounces; I like that
and the reading greatly.  There's an inner glow to Xiao Mei's performance
that's magical; the usual ways of judging a performance don't apply here -
just sit back, take it all in, and know that magic is in the air.  Xiao
Mei's disc is worth every penny if only for this variation.  These are six
great versions, and Dershavina just can't compete with them.  Again, I feel
that her identification with the music is on the low side, and she's not
playing excellently.

19th Variation - Joyous music with strong accenting; this is foot tapping
time.  Xiao Mei's performance is good but I'd like stronger projection
from the right hand.  Jarrett skips the repeats, does project well, but is
a little too smooth in this music for my tastes - a good peformance which
doesn't rise to the top.  Verlet tries to blend a choppy and seamless
approach.  Initially, I did not like the combination, but it's growing on
me to the point where I consider it excellent - joy and accenting are very
strong.  Dershavina is very slow and makes it work wonderfully in the first
theme in a manner similar to Tureck concerning the highlighting of the
counterpoint, but there is a second theme and here is where Dershavina
loses her grip on the music.  Hantai gives an outstanding mainstream
performance which is the equal of Verlet; if you want joy, this is your
version.  If you want the best second theme of these seven versions,
Gilbert delivers it; his first theme is a little less effective.  Suzuki
is in that magical category.  Right from the beginning, he transports me to
the perfect environment.  This is exactly how I'd play the piece if I could
play it at all.

20th Variation - A Courante of happy disposition.  Xiao Mei skips the
second theme's repeat which is fine with me; she's very fast but it
sounds like a fast trip to nowhere.  Jarrett isn't fast or slow, just not
interesting at all.  Gilbert skips both repeats but provides a good version
of moderate tempo.  Even better is Dershavina who shows that fast speed can
be lyrical and effective in this music.

21st Variation - This is probably my favorite variation of the Goldbergs;
the first theme is supreme urgency and the second theme an outstanding
blend of joy and sadness that's extremely poignant.  Xiao Mei's first
theme is lacking in urgency, but the second theme goes much better although
she skips the repeat.  Jarrett's first theme has even less urgency than
Xiao Mei's, and his second theme is no better; this sounds just like a
run-through.  Hantai's reading is very similar to Xiao Mei's.  Suzuki
gives a fine peformance, but it's not deep enough; he also adds some cute
ornamentation to the first theme repeat which I didn't appreciate.  Gilbert
is very good, but he can sound a little rushed.  Dershavina and Verlet
give the excellent performances.  Dershavina is a model of expressiveness
throughout, and Verlet provides the first theme's urgency much better than
the other artists; it's fantastic first theme - give it a listen.

22nd Variation - Joyous and heroic music which Gilbert and Dershavina
capture best; Gilbert's swagger is very impressive.  Xiao Mei takes
a more inward approach.  It works wonderfully and hers is a beautiful
performance.  Verlet is slow and rather unique with her rhythm; it's
an interpretation which grows on me.  Hantai is fine, although a little
choppy.  I didn't care much for Suzuki's pacing, although his heroism is
admirable.  Jarrett's at the bottom; he skips the first theme repeat and
continues his recent bout of superficiality.  Concerning the first theme,
I'm just not ready to leave it when Jarrett departs.

Update on Keith Jarrett - It's only taken about six variations for Jarrett
to fall from one of the best versions to no better than middle of the pack.
He sounds like he's on auto-pilot compared to the other artists, and that's
a condition which is much worse than wayward interpretations or some
technically deficient delivery.  However, Jarrett has all the capability
in the world to get back to his earlier high quality of performance.

23rd Variation - Seamless and joyful music with a rollercoaster effect.
Verlet is rather choppy and expendable with a 2 1/2 minute performance.
Gilbert skips the repeats and although less choppy than Verlet, he
obviously doesn't care much for the seamless approach in this piece.
Hantai is more seamless than Verlet or Gilbert and performs well, but
there's not much impact from the ride.  Xiao Mei is quite fast and
sometimes loses her rhythm; other than that, it's a fine reading.  Suzuki
does well with a quick performance which still doesn't come close to being
memorable.  Dershavina can sound awkward at times and seems to be playing
carefully.  I saved Jarrett for last, thinking that the 23rd Variation
could well be a perfect match for his style - it isn't.  Jarrett skips the
repeats and doesn't flow well much of the time.  Seven versions and seven
misses - entirely forgettable.

24th Variation - Lovely music of joy with a bitter/sweet element.  Gilbert
and Suzuki are by far the best versions.  Gilbert's reading highlights
the joy in the music so convincingly and Suzuki gives the piece a sublime
sadness; both performances provide pacing to die for.  Dershavina and
Verlet give very fine interpretations with Hantai just a little behind.
Jarrett skips both repeats, and I don't like the first one dumped at all.
Also, his performance has little lift to it.  Xiao Mei starts off too
quickly, although she gets into a groove eventually.  Her second theme
isn't very good; there are awkward moments and she skips the repeat.

25th Variation - Likely the most well known variation, the "Black Pearl"
is not cheerful music though I don't give it the absolute bleakness that
some others do.  Jarrett, Dershavina, and Verlet have problems.  Jarrett
is rather surface-bound and his plucking gets tiresome after awhile.
Verlet chops through the variation just as she did through the opening
aria.  Dershavina, with a 9 minute reading, has trouble maintaining
consistency of pacing.  The remaining issues convey emotional depth and
a mastery of form.

26th Variation - Power, momentum, and excitement are the key ingredients
of this toccata.  None of the versions is inadequate, but only Gilbert
maintains fine momentum and excitement from start to finish.  The other
versions each had moments which sounded like indecision or smudging of
phrases.

27th Variation - Joyful music in a seamless package.  Although Xiao Mei's
is a fine and quick performance, she has moments when the seam is close to
breaking.  Hantai does better although he displays some hesitations which
I feel deter the music's flow.  Jarrett skips both repeats, is very slow,
and not very joyful - seamless playing on its own is not sufficient.
Dershavina gives a very enjoyable and fast reading.  Verlet would have
been excellent except for a halting style she occasionally employs.  It's
Gilbert and Suzuki who best bring out the joy in the music and keep it
flowing from beginning to end.

28th Variation - If you like trills and a variety of joyous expression,
this variation will yield much pleasure.  Dershavina's trills are not
always even, and she doesn't bring out a high degree of variety.  Xiao Mei
is more technically secure than Dershavina, but variety of expression is
still low.  Jarrett skips the repeats which automatically cuts down on
variety; he's also on the somber side.  Hantai is right on target, but
there's little differentiation between the first theme and its repeat.
Gilbert's interpretation is even better, but he skips that first theme
repeat.  Suzuki's version sounds rushed in spots and rather superficial.
This is Verlet's time to shine.  She varies the first theme repeat
wonderfully, her trills are a pleasure to experience, and the joy in her
reading radiates strongly.

29th Variation - A superb toccata of controlled power that keeps hitting
the line of wildness but never goes beyond; the poetry is impressive as
is the tension.  Gilbert is not impressive; he sounds rather stodgy with
insufficient exuberance, and he skips both repeats.  Jarrett sounds as
if he's doing a slow paced initial rehearsal; he doesn't skip repeats but
I wish he had.  Suzuki doesn't come close to conveying any sensation of
wildness, but he does convey more life than Gilbert.  Xiao Mei gives a fine
account of strength that's verging into wildness, but I feel that she does
not dig into the core of the music's tension.  Dershavina's first theme is
dynamite, but her second theme tends to break down through slow-downs, cute
phrasing, smudged lines, and playing too softly.  Verlet is comparatively
very slow and wildness isn't there.  But she's sharp as a razor,
deliciously and pungently expressive, and shares top honors with Hantai
who fits my description of this variation like a glove.

30th Variation - A fitting tribute to close out the variations with its
heroic, uplifting, and ceremonial swagger.  Jarrett is about perfect; the
ceremony is superb as is the pacing.  With his reading, it's so easy to
get images of imperial celebration.  The same applies to Verlet whose
peformance is much more angular than Jarrett's.  Gilbert is almost as
good, but I miss his not playing the repeats.  Just as fine as Gilbert is
Hantai's very happy reading.  Suzuki's reading is very enjoyable and has
ample ceremony.  I just question the "pristine" and somewhat precious sound
of Suzuki's playing.  Xiao Mei's fine version is hampered a little by some
note banging.  Dershavina's highly expressive performance is excellent
except for some hesitation in the first theme repeat and very soft playing
at times in the second theme.

Aria da capo - Except for Verlet, each version is very similar to its
corresponding opening aria.  Concerning Verlet, although she still chops
into the music, her tempo is more relaxed and I consider that an
advantageous decision.

Conclusions:

I favor the Hantai and Gilbert versions.  Both are consistently idiomatic
and make good interpretive decisions.  Also, each artist delivers a few
"magical" performances which stand out.  Gilbert does skip many repeats
and would likely not be thought of well by those who place a very strong
priority on observing them.

Verlet is very good.  Now and then, she plays in a choppy manner;
otherwise, her performances are as good as Hantai and Gilbert.

Suzuki and Xiao Mei provide fine versions.  Jarrett is not quite at his
best; in many of the latter variations, he sounds detached and somewhat
bored.

Dershavina occupies the bottom, but she also has much to offer with many
highly expressive performances.  I think her basic problem at this stage
of her career concerns the issue of maintaining consistency and focus plus
some problems of a technical nature.  However, at super-budget price, I
consider this disc very worthwhile.

None of the seven versions reviewed rivals the Gould '81' or the Tureck
versions on Philips and DG.  But I do feel that Gilbert, Verlet, and Hantai
are every bit as good as the piano versions from Perahia and Hewitt with
Suzuki and Xiao Mei not far behind.

Don Satz
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