Janine's Bach Festival: The Goldberg Variations

Janine's Bach Festival

You spend your whole life with Bach, says Janine Jansen. The star violinist thinks his music is perfect; everything is correct, down to the smallest detail. The Concertgebouw is like a home to her; she feels strongly connected to the history of the place and the acoustics. For the Small and Large Halls, she and her family and musical friends put together a festival around Bach's music, from solo sonata to concert.

Bach's Goldberg Variations

With Daniel Blendulf and Timothy Ridout, Janine Jansen plays the Goldberg Variations in the arrangement for three strings by Dmitry Sitkovetsky. The anecdote that a Russian envoy suffered from insomnia had parts of the work played by Goldberg, his harpsichordist, has not survived critical scrutiny. The aria and the forty variations are not soporific but offer a fascinating insight into Bach's enormous talent.