Opus 111 has repackaged several items from its Bach holdings to celebrate the composer’s 250th deathday in 2000. One is the brilliant harpsichordist Pierre Hantaï’s 1993 recording of the Goldberg Variations. Taking all the repeats (including the ones in the Aria de capo most players avoid), Hantaï rivets your attention by way of impeccable pacing, purposeful ornamentation, subtle registrations, and a brain in every finger. His wide palettes of articulations enhance the distinction and character of Bach’s canonic movements, as well as providing color and contrast. What’s more, Hantaï’s agogic adjustments always bear elements of surprise as they quietly propel the musical argument forward and up. The crucial 25th Variation is briskly unsentimental here, yet the aria-like right hand lines truly breathe. The engineering is clear and resonant but not too closely miked or unrealistically loud. An absolutely first-class release, worth its weight in Goldbergs. [6/3/2000]
