I always find myself purchasing automatically the CDs that contains this formidable set of variations, in the tradition of Beethoven's 32 Variations, Mendelssohn's Variations Serieuses, Liszt's Weinen Kragen Sorgen Zagen variations, and Franck's Prelude, Choral et Fugues. What I would like to add (perhaps it might be a well-known fact) is that the fugue part sounds really similar to Ignaz Moscheles's final etude of Op.70 (prelude and fugue). My ever-favorite recording is also Julius Katchen on Decca, but I like Claudio Arrau's performance on Philips (1977) very much, too. He does not sound as crisp as Katchen. But, his perspective on this majestic score is well-integrated, and his beautiful tones sound so convincive as in his Brahms concertos' performances. I think Pascal Roge's performance on Decca (1993) is something valuable, as he is one of the students of Julius Katchen. Hitoshi ASAOKA <[log in to unmask]>