Goldberg2

Two things must be said immediately: (1) Lara St. John is a spectacular violinist and (2) any resemblance between the music on this disc and that of J.S. Bach is largely incidental. True, Bach himself freely arranged and re-used his works in other contexts, and this is often cited to justify recasting bits and pieces of them in a highly idiosyncratic, often experimental style totally alien to his own. However, though St. John claims that she and her collaborators have "a huge respect for Bach's music," it is difficult to resist the impression that this is simply a launching-pad for an unabashed ego-trip. Her tone contrasts strangely with the electronic instruments and sounds too close to the microphone, but seems an oasis of natural beauty; one longs for its reappearance whenever she rests. She gets only a few chances to display her virtuosity; one of them is the finale of the A-minor unaccompanied sonata, the sole selection originally written for violin (inexplicably called "Bombay Minor"). St. John plays it brilliantly, but toward the end a tabla joins her with rhythms that seem unconnected to her part. The music generally is a teaser. Some melodies are unfamiliar, some famous, but often impossible to identify in these unaccustomed surroundings. The opening selection's title, "Goldberg 2," presumably indicates a connection with the "Goldberg" Variations that defies discovery, while the last selection is unmistakable: the "Badinerie" from the B-minor Suite. St. John plays the solo flute part, again not fast but brilliantly; she rests while the group engages in far-flung modulations. In two pieces St. John plays a duet with herself, one violin sounding darker than the other and just different enough to create the illusion of two players, and there is a lovely, simple duet for violin and cello that actually sounds like Bach. Now will the real Johann Sebastian please stand up? --Edith Eisler