Goldberg Variations Complete (J.S. Bach BWV 988), with score, Kimiko Ishizaka piano

Download the Goldberg Variations (mp3, wav): Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal, The English Patient, Captain Fantastic, Before Sunrise, and Solaris are just a few films to have featured Bach’s Goldberg Variations. “Counterpoint passes back and forth between the hands in a conversational and judiciously balanced manner, while a strong lyrical impulse informs the cross-handed variations’ rapid, bravura passages (Vars 5 and 19, for example). Ishizaka’s restrained and concentrated way with slow minor-key variations (Vars 15,21 and 25) lets the music’s agonising harmonic tension speak softly for itself.“ - Jed Distler, Gramophone Magazine “She has the fleet fingers to speed through the virtuoso variations with compelling clarity and the sensitivity to probe the dramatic potential of the slower, more profound numbers, pleasurably aided by her consistently lovely tone.“ -