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, emphasising 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 saviour in my hours of doubt and confusion".
Tianqi Du is particularly inspired in his interpretation of the famous aria, from the original one right through to its final da capo, following a path full of surprises which will not fail to move the listener. While the thirty variations are methodically punctuated by nine canons gradually rising higher and obeying the rules of an unerring counterpoint, they also allow for a sensitive and imaginative pianist like Tianqi Du to use all the resources of a romantic instrument and modern thinking: a very personal ornamentation, a contrasting touch, confident use of the pedal, suppleness in the tempi, lively highlighting of the other voices, slow movements that sing, and the final aria on the verge of silence. "This work", writes Tianqi Du, "is often compared to an imposing building or to a treasure". © naive classique