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Cherry Pop

Title - Bach - Goldberg Variations [2CD]
Artist - Tianqi Du

For those of you not in the know, in recent years, Tianqi Du has returned to the stage performing Bach’s Goldberg Variations. Featuring 13 preludes and fugues arranged by the B.A.C.H motif, his program has been presented many times and gained wide attention in both China and America.

The review of The Theatre Time at Carnegie Hall says, “It’s impossible not to draw comparisons to Glenn Gould when considering Tianqi Du, age 25, a rising star in China’s classical music scene. In the sea of up-and-coming piano talent, Tianqi Du has forged his own identity. Embracing avant-garde experimentation and modern visual arts, Du pushes the envelope, extending himself far beyond the classical concert pianist route.”

In the Chinese classical music magazine Piano Artistry, world-renowned piano teacher, Professor Zhaoyi Dan, wrote that “Tianqi’s ‘Goldberg Variations’ deeply touched everyone at the recital and my heart was quivering. At the many concerts I have seen in my lifetime I have experienced emotions from excitement to sleeplessness, but this was the first time I listened to a performance with tears in my eyes, and then sobbed in the artists’ arms backstage.”

Releasing this month as a 2CD set, Tianqi Du’s Bach - Goldberg Variations (out via Naive Records) is everything you knew it would be and everything you could have ever hoped it would be.

CD 1:
1. aria
2-16. variations I â xv

CD 2:
1-15. variations XVI â xxx
16. aria da capo

As I am sure we are all well aware by now, at its core, the Goldberg Variations do constitute a cycle, primarily for the very fact that any succession of variations on a preceding theme provides a strongly interlinked cyclic form, but also, and more importantly, because they follow an elaborate compositional structure, interlocking character, virtuoso, and canonic variations, implementing musical progression and symmetry as paramount formal principles.

The cyclic shape of the work is not identifiable only through the architectonic disposition of the three types of variations mentioned above; there are further traits that link the pieces together, such as dance suite movements which relate to each other in different ways (e.g., passepied, gigue, French ouverture, sarabande, menuet, polonaise), genres (e.g., fantasia, sinfonia, fugetta, quodlibet), time signatures, (minor) key, number of voices, etc.

Any variation may be classified according to a number of parameters, simultaneously belonging to several networks of pieces. In this context, the question arises to what extent its performers realize the cyclic potential of the Goldberg Variations inherent to its overall structure and to the individual pieces, i.e., how they handle parameters such as tempo, duration, dynamics, repeats, and harpsichord registration.

So yes, the overall interpretation of such elements may add further layers to the correlational structures present in the cycle, but never, at any point, does it sway the listener away from what is provided, what is conjured by each performer that has chosen to undertake it - in part or in whole.

From the ornately flourishing opening aria on through both sets of variations on to the finale of the delicate gossamer of the aria da capo, everything about this recording is top notch and heartfeltly cultured.

With that all said, here on Du’s undertaking, the fast rising star in China’s classical music scene strives to forge his own identity within the genre and for the most part not only manages to achieve that, but most assuredly brings about one of the most accomplished works of Bach to our ears at the same time.

Official Website

Tianqi Du @ Instagram





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