2026 BIGLAKE Festival: The Goldberg Variations - Bach Then and Now

Historical Series: Harpsichord and Modern Piano

Ilya Poletaev, harpsichord and piano J.S. Bach “Goldberg Variations” – Clavier Ubung bestehend in einer ARIA mit verschiedenen Verænderungen Nearly everyone has heard about Bach’s Goldberg Variations. In Canada, it carries a particular importance – Glenn Gould’s defining recordings. But have you heard it on the harpsichord, the instrument Bach actually composed it for?

The legend goes that Count Hermann Karl von Keyserlinck asked Bach for some pleasant music to cheer him up during his sleepless nights, to be played on Keyserlinck’s harpsichord, by resident prodigy Johann Gottlieb Goldberg.

Travel back in time to 1741 with keyboardist Ilya Poletaev, first prize winner of the prestigious International Bach Competition in Leipzig and experience this masterpiece on both the harpsichord and the modern piano.

Be sure not to miss this very rare experience!

Historical Series are part of BIGLAKE LEARN

Note: there is no intermission.