Goldberg Variations by Alexey Botvinov

Overall I found the music too legato (smooth). This is not necessarily a bad thing, especially if one wishes to exploit the potential of the piano and aim for a less-antiquated style, but some parts seemed rushed and coupled with the liberal use of the sustain pedal, many notes blurred into each other which seemed messy (for this work).

Of course, I am a harpsichord fan and am sympathetic to the concept of HIP (Historically Informed Performance); using a harpsichord disciplines you and forces you to articulate each note properly, exploit the trills and ornamentations to link notes and play around with the stops.

I think I also detected some rubato (jiggling note durations around) which contributed to the more Romantic feel. If nothing, it stopped me from falling asleep (hurr hurr).


I really don't like most of the slow and/or melancholy variations.

At a few points in the performance, one member of the audience was channeling Glenn Gould, which was very annoying.