Benjamin Alard, Goldberg Variations: the art of returning

Few keyboard works speak to the imagination like the Goldbergvariaties van Johann Sebastian Bach. A single aria allows itself to be dismantled and rebuilt in a dizzying series of thirty variations: a universe in which strict architecture and playful invention keep each other in balance. Canons, virtuoso toccatas, and a humorous quodlibet together form a masterpiece that sounds simultaneously intellectually sophisticated and movingly human. De Franse harpsichordist and organist Benjamin Alard devotes a large part of his artistic life to the Thomaskantor. Since 2018, he has been working on an ambitious recording of the complete keyboard repertoire of Bach, on historical instruments and with sharp insight into the context of each work. Alard’s profound fascination translates into interpretations that are clear, lively, and exceptionally expressive. This rendition of the holiest-of-holies of keyboard literature will not be an academic exercise, but a journey through Bach’s imagination: an unparalleled opportunity to experience a highlight of music history live.