Artist(s): Donner, Stefan
Label: Gramola Records
Genre: Instrumental
Period: Baroque
Catalogue No: Gramola99347
Barcode: 9003643993471
Release Date: 05/2025

BACH, J.S.: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Donner)

The harpsichord from 1745 by Joannes Daniel Dulcken bearing the inventory number SAM 726 not only is an instrument with a beautiful and most distinctive sound: it also commands admiration as a visually magnificent exhibition piece. Nothing is known about the original owners, but over the course of a century and a half it found its way from the production site in Antwerp to Vienna, where it was added to the collection of Historic Musical Instruments at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in 1921. In the following decades, its playability was restored in several stages, with its sound now documented for the first time on this CD. The internationally acclaimed Austrian organist and harpsichordist Stefan Donner presents the Goldberg Variations by J.S. Bach, one of the most famous variation cycles in music history, which is also an ideal choice of program due to the immediate proximity of its publication in 1741 to the time of the instrument’s creation.

Tracklist

Disc 1
Bach, Johann Sebastian
Donner, Stefan (piano)
1 Aria 04:14
Donner, Stefan (piano)
2 Variatio 1. a 1 Clav. 02:29
Donner, Stefan (piano)
3 Variatio 2. a 1 Clav. 02:02
Donner, Stefan (piano)
4 Variatio 3. Canone all'Unisuono. a 1 Clav. 02:39
Donner, Stefan (piano)
5 Variatio 4. a 1 Clav. 01:29
Donner, Stefan (piano)
6 Variatio 5. a 1 ô vero 2 Clav. 02:27
Donner, Stefan (piano)
7 Variatio 6. Canone alla Seconda. a 1 Clav. 01:36
Donner, Stefan (piano)
8 Variatio 7. a 1 ô vero 2 Clav. 02:12
Donner, Stefan (piano)
9 Variatio 8. a 2 Clav. 02:52
Donner, Stefan (piano)
10 Variatio 9. Canone alla Terza. a 1 Clav. 02:27
Donner, Stefan (piano)
11 Variatio 10. Fughetta. a 1 Clav. 02:03
Donner, Stefan (piano)
12 Variatio 11. a 2 Clav. 02:55
Donner, Stefan (piano)
13 Variatio 12. Canone alla Quarta. a 1 Clav. 04:07
Donner, Stefan (piano)
14 Variatio 13. a 2 Clav. 05:24
Donner, Stefan (piano)
15 Variatio 14. a 2 Clav. 03:15
Donner, Stefan (piano)
16 Variatio 15. Canone alla Quinta. a 1 Clav. 04:32
Donner, Stefan (piano)
Disc 2
1 Variatio 16. Ouverture. a 1 Clav. 03:30
Donner, Stefan (piano)
2 Variatio 17. a 2 Clav. 03:12
Donner, Stefan (piano)
3 Variatio 18. Canone alla Sexta. a 1 Clav. 01:55
Donner, Stefan (piano)
4 Variatio 19. a 1 Clav. 01:39
Donner, Stefan (piano)
5 Variatio 20. a 2 Clav. 03:10
Donner, Stefan (piano)
6 Variatio 21. Canone alla Settima. a 1 Clav. 03:57
Donner, Stefan (piano)
7 Variatio 22. Alla breve. a 1 Clav. 01:47
Donner, Stefan (piano)
8 Variatio 23. a 2 Clav. 03:38
Donner, Stefan (piano)
9 Variatio 24. Canone all'Ottava. a 1 Clav. 04:00
Donner, Stefan (piano)
10 Variatio 25. a 2 Clav. 06:30
Donner, Stefan (piano)
11 Variatio 26. a 2 Clav. 03:00
Donner, Stefan (piano)
12 Variatio 27. Canone alla Nona. a 2 Clav. 03:07
Donner, Stefan (piano)
13 Variatio 28. a 2 Clav. 03:53
Donner, Stefan (piano)
14 Variatio 29. a 1 ô vero 2 Clav. 03:36
Donner, Stefan (piano)
15 Variatio 30. Quodlibet. a 1 Clav. 02:13
Donner, Stefan (piano)
16 Aria da capo 04:32
Donner, Stefan (piano)

Total Playing Time: 01:40:22