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)
1Aria04:14
Donner, Stefan (piano)
2Variatio 1. a 1 Clav.02:29
Donner, Stefan (piano)
3Variatio 2. a 1 Clav.02:02
Donner, Stefan (piano)
4Variatio 3. Canone all'Unisuono. a 1 Clav.02:39
Donner, Stefan (piano)
5Variatio 4. a 1 Clav.01:29
Donner, Stefan (piano)
6Variatio 5. a 1 ô vero 2 Clav.02:27
Donner, Stefan (piano)
7Variatio 6. Canone alla Seconda. a 1 Clav.01:36
Donner, Stefan (piano)
8Variatio 7. a 1 ô vero 2 Clav.02:12
Donner, Stefan (piano)
9Variatio 8. a 2 Clav.02:52
Donner, Stefan (piano)
10Variatio 9. Canone alla Terza. a 1 Clav.02:27
Donner, Stefan (piano)
11Variatio 10. Fughetta. a 1 Clav.02:03
Donner, Stefan (piano)
12Variatio 11. a 2 Clav.02:55
Donner, Stefan (piano)
13Variatio 12. Canone alla Quarta. a 1 Clav.04:07
Donner, Stefan (piano)
14Variatio 13. a 2 Clav.05:24
Donner, Stefan (piano)
15Variatio 14. a 2 Clav.03:15
Donner, Stefan (piano)
16Variatio 15. Canone alla Quinta. a 1 Clav.04:32
Donner, Stefan (piano)
Disc 2
1Variatio 16. Ouverture. a 1 Clav.03:30
Donner, Stefan (piano)
2Variatio 17. a 2 Clav.03:12
Donner, Stefan (piano)
3Variatio 18. Canone alla Sexta. a 1 Clav.01:55
Donner, Stefan (piano)
4Variatio 19. a 1 Clav.01:39
Donner, Stefan (piano)
5Variatio 20. a 2 Clav.03:10
Donner, Stefan (piano)
6Variatio 21. Canone alla Settima. a 1 Clav.03:57
Donner, Stefan (piano)
7Variatio 22. Alla breve. a 1 Clav.01:47
Donner, Stefan (piano)
8Variatio 23. a 2 Clav.03:38
Donner, Stefan (piano)
9Variatio 24. Canone all'Ottava. a 1 Clav.04:00
Donner, Stefan (piano)
10Variatio 25. a 2 Clav.06:30
Donner, Stefan (piano)
11Variatio 26. a 2 Clav.03:00
Donner, Stefan (piano)
12Variatio 27. Canone alla Nona. a 2 Clav.03:07
Donner, Stefan (piano)
13Variatio 28. a 2 Clav.03:53
Donner, Stefan (piano)
14Variatio 29. a 1 ô vero 2 Clav.03:36
Donner, Stefan (piano)
15Variatio 30. Quodlibet. a 1 Clav.02:13
Donner, Stefan (piano)
16Aria da capo04:32
Donner, Stefan (piano)

Total Playing Time: 01:40:22