Goldberg Variations

For his first appearance under the naïve label, the Chinese pianist Tianqi Du majestically embraces a monument for keyboard, the Goldberg Variations. His pianistic interpretation of Bach's masterpiece affirms the principle of metamorphosis, always reinventing but never altering, emphasizing all the resources of the instrument. A compulsory piece for all keyboardists and even other instrumentalists, if you count the many transcriptions they have undergone the Goldberg Variations never sound the same. The voice rendered here by Tianqi Du a young pianist taught and admired in his home country of China before studying with Meng-Chieh Liu at Boston's New England Conservatory and now with Nicolas Hodges is that of a dear, benevolent friend who always stood close by while he was growing up: My encounter with the Goldberg Variations was like a musical compass that showed me the way, he confides. Bach has been a friend, a mentor and a savior in my hours of doubt and confusion.