Bach: Goldberg Variations

Firma Melodiya presents concert recordings of J.S. Bachs compositions performed by Grigory Sokolov, arguably the most intellectual of all modern Russian pianists. At the age of 16, he became a winner of the 3rd International Tchaikovsky Competition and has been an active concert performer for more than forty years. There are just few musicians now who are described as "He lives for the sake of music. Only music". Sokolovs biography is not rich in external events as he is not a public figure. However, those who have heard him in concert or on records will never be able to forget his play. Sokolov prefers deeply considered "music of mind" to virtuosic lustre. He is mostly known as an interpreter of Bachs works, late Beethoven and Brahms. "He is often compared with Gould. But Sokolov has a Bach of his own. He is more of a philosopher", a critic wrote about his performance in the Literaturnaya Gazeta. But unlike the Canadian intellectual genius of pianism, Sokolov has preferred concerts to recordings. "The biggest gap is the one between the microphone and a man", the musician believes. The Goldberg Variations, Bachs most complicated cycle from the performing point of view, was recorded by Grigory Sokolov in concert in 1982. The album also includes Partita in C minor and English Suite in A minor recorded in various years.