Bach: Goldberg Variations

Rosalyn Tureck has devoted her long career to Bach’s music, but her critics, while lauding her exquisite playing, have also justifiably faulted her coolly deliberate, almost antiseptic approach. However, on this recording, Tureck’s style is leavened considerably. She bends the rhythms almost playfully, and her musical line is clean without being dry or academic. She strings these 30 variations together with consummate skill and grace but injects a refreshing, childlike wonder. At 85, Tureck’s digital dexterity may not be what it was, but her performance has lost none of its penetrating intellect. The only difference is that it’s freshened by a spring-like buoyancy.