Bach: Variations on Variations

As Alessandrini rightly acknowledges, he’s not the first to arrange Bach’s Goldberg Variations for ensemble, but his version anchors them in the composer’s time with notable success. As one of today’s leading harpsichordists, he knows them intimately, and his version for five strings and harpsichord plays wonderfully to their strengths. That’s not all, though: he gives us a program that sneaks up on the Goldbergs via various works that engage with the idea of variation (a canzona, a passacaglia, and an aria variata), shining a light on Bach’s enduring fascination with the concept of elaboration.