Bach - Trio Accord:goldberg Variations

Trio Accord;

Wholenote Discoveries - March 2009
There are two recent CDs of the Bach Goldberg Variations in the string trio arrangement by the violinist Dmitri Sitkovetsky. On the first Jonathan Crow and Matt Haimovitz team up with violist Douglas McNabney; the other features Vancouver's Trio Accord - Mary Sokol Brown (violin), Andrew Brown (viola) and Ariel Barnes (cello). As McNabney points out, Bach's music is strong enough to transcend the many transcriptions that have been made of this work; certainly this version, which Sitkovetsky dedicated to Glenn Gould, serves the predominantly three-part keyboard writing extremely well. There are many differences in tempo and track timings here, the latter probably due to the observance - or lack thereof - of repeats as much as anything, but both recordings are extremely satisfying performances. The playing is excellent on both CDs, both from an individual and ensemble viewpoint, and the recording ambience - both were recorded in a church - is warm and resonant. On first hearing I preferred the brightness and contrast in the Trio Accord CD, whereas the Quebec-based ensemble plays with a touch more legato throughout, but on further comparison I'm not so sure; in two outstanding recordings I have a feeling that it's Jonathan Crow and friends who come closest to the spiritual heart of this astonishing work. Terry Robbins

Price: $22.98