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 [log in to unmask]