Search - Avner Arad (piano) :: Johann Sebastian Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988

J.S. Bach's Aria with 30 Variations, published as Part IV of his ClavierUbung (Keyboard Practice) by Balthasar Schmid of Nurnberg in 1741 and commonly referred to as the Goldberg Variations, likely had nothing directly to do with the harpsichordist Johann Gottlieb Goldberg. Goldberg's name was linked to the work by Bach s early biographer Johann Forkel, who claimed that the variations had been commissioned by Count von Keyserlingk for his resident harpsichordist, Goldberg, to play for him during sleepless nights. In fact, in November of 1741 Bach did visit Keyserlingk in Dresden, and Goldberg had previously been a student of both J.S. and his eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann, so Forkel's account of the variations origin had a degree of plausibility. However, according to the eminent Bach scholar Christoph Wolff, the work had most probably already been published in the autumn. Moreover, the edition was issued without any dedication, which it almost certainly would have had if it had actually been commissioned by Keyserlingk. Despite the problematic nature of Forkel s account, the name Goldberg has stuck with the variations and this is how the work is universally known today. Israeli-born pianist AVNER ARAD has performed throughout North America and Europe as soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. Performance highlights have included engagements at the Concertgebouw, Vienna s Konzerthaus, Kölner Philharmonie, Brussels Palais des Beaux-Arts, the Kennedy Center, 92nd Street Y, Merkin Hall, Carnegie Hall s Weill Recital Hall, as well as festival appearances at Ravinia and Schleswig-Holstein. Mr. Arad was a recipient of Carnegie Hall s 1998 Distinctive Debuts Award. He performed Bach s Goldberg Variations for his New York recital debut as winner of the Koussevitzky Memorial Competition, made his Lincoln Center debut with the Juilliard Orchestra, and embarked on his first European tour as winner of the Young Keyboard Artists International Piano Competition. He twice won the Juilliard's Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition. His critically acclaimed recordings include the complete waltzes by Chopin and an all-Schumann CD on MSR Classics label, the complete piano works of Janá ek on Helicon Records, and Bloch s complete works for violin and piano with Latica Honda-Rosenberg for OehmsClassics. After receiving the Sharett Scholarship from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation, Mr. Arad worked with Barry Snyder at the Eastman School of Music. He graduated from the Curtis Institute as a pupil of Seymour Lipkin, and received his master s degree from the Juilliard School, where he studied with the late Rudolf Firku ný and Emanuel Ax.