Bach - Goldberg Variations - Aria, Var.1, No.7, No.16 (AjLongsPiano

[ajlongspiano]

I'm not sure if any of my old friends still visit here anymore, but regardless of whether you're old or new here, I hope you enjoy these recordings. 

Best,

AJ

[pianoville]

What an extraordinary performance of the Goldberg variations! I am not very knowledgeable about Bach and how to play his music, but I thought your voicing was great, your phrasing was awesome and I thought your playing was very sincere. Certainly up there with the proffesionals! Btw, have you learned the entire piece? I would love to hear a recording of all the variations!

[ajlongspiano]

@pianoville - Thank you so much! I appreciate your encouraging comments. The whole thing is still a giant work in progress. Hopefully one day I will perform them all!

Best,

AJ

[tenk]

Hi AJ,

I am working on these myself (21/31 complete). Are you looking for feedback or just posting for our enjoyment? Well done in either case 

[mjames]

Nice.

[philolog]

Beautifully played. Admirable control, clarity, balance and musicality (this last quality was always apparent in your earlier samples). I also like the piano, which doesn't display any of the unpleasant defects that I often hear in many new instruments and recordings (a personal prejudice, I suppose).

I sense a considerable technical improvement since the last time you posted any of the Goldbergs but my conclusion may be influenced by other factors, for example, your speedier tempo in the first variation, so well handled.

However, if I remember rightly, the previous post included some original ornamentation that you've since eliminated. Perhaps it's too difficult to include such things at the new tempo? Were they improvised during the first recording? For myself, I don't think I could reliably throw in spontaneous ornaments in much of the Goldbergs because of the tendency for such things to disrupt the fingering, although certainly it would be easier to do so in the slower variations.

I was wondering how you chose these segments to post? Do they represent those which you've studied first, instead of working through the piece in a linear fashion? Just curious.

Anyway, keep up the good work and I'll look forward to hearing more as you go along.

[pencilart3]

AJ this is fantastic. Wow! It's nice to hear you play on a real piano. One thing, I'm not sure I like the hands coming down separately on the aria. Makes it sound too romantic in my opinion. But that's just a preference of course, great work!