Special offer. Bach: Goldberg Variations
arr. Józef Koffler
Royal Academy of Music Soloists Ensemble, Trevor Pinnock
The success of this effort stems as much from the ever-changing colors and textures of Koffler’s transcription as from Pinnock’s inspired and tasteful direction. The instruments are all modern,...
Special offer. Bach: Goldberg Variations
arr. Józef Koffler
Royal Academy of Music Soloists Ensemble, Trevor Pinnock
Purchase product
The success of this effort stems as much from the ever-changing colors and textures of Koffler’s transcription as from Pinnock’s inspired and tasteful direction. The instruments are all modern,...
About
This new recording of Józef Koffler's arrangement of J.S.Bach's Goldberg Variations has been widely anticipated since Trevor Pinnock conducted the UK premiere at Wigmore Hall in 2019.
The Goldberg Variations were still largely unfamiliar to the musical public when Józef Koffler completed his extraordinary arrangement for flute, oboe, cor anglais, bassoon and strings in 1938.
Over sixty years on, the Goldberg Variations are ubiquitous. Bach's encyclopaedic marvel of digital gymnastics and musical invention is regularly performed and recorded.
Koffler's arrangement cleverly reimagines the work in a naturalistic and compelling way.
In its second transatlantic musical collaboration, the Royal Academy of Music is joined by students from The Glenn Gould School of The Royal Conservatory in Toronto.
The partnership with the Academy has produced five recordings with Trevor Pinnock, one with the late Oliver Knussen and one with Reinhold Friedrich in collaboration with The Juilliard School.
Contents and tracklist
- Arr. for Small Orchestra by Józef Koffler
- Trevor Pinnock, Royal Academy of Music Soloists Ensemble, The Glenn Gould School
Awards and reviews
July/August 2021
The success of this effort stems as much from the ever-changing colors and textures of Koffler’s transcription as from Pinnock’s inspired and tasteful direction. The instruments are all modern, there’s no harpsichord, and the interpretation overall might even be said to border on the Romantic.
January 2021
There appears little opportunity (or perhaps will) to ornament on repeats, with such variety touched in through the subtle alteration of dynamics. Koffler’s voicings are nevertheless so persuasive that the attention is held throughout. The playing is as fine as is to be expected from the most promising of British and Canadian musical youth. A beguiling, kaleidoscopic and intensely personal take on this eternally rewarding sequence.
