J. S. Bach, Goldberg-Variationen

No matter how hard all the popular pianists from Levit to Lang Lang try, the best-selling classical CD is and remains Glenn Gould's ‘The Goldbergs’. People have puzzled over why this particular keyboard work by Bach has such a magical effect, given that it was only intended as a musical sedative. 
The work was named after Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, a 14-year-old pupil of Bach who was employed by the Russian ambassador Count Kayserlingk and had to play the harpsichord at night for the insomniac, who was plagued by pain. Many passages are devilishly difficult – Bach must have been a good teacher, Goldberg a highly gifted pupil, and children working at night must not have been a crime back then...
At the age of 14, Jan Cmelja had already successfully demonstrated his skills in several Czech piano competitions, but his big breakthrough came when he won the Leipzig Bach Prize in 2025, which, in addition to dexterity, can only be achieved thanks to a particularly deep connection with the work of the Thomaskantor. We are eagerly awaiting his ‘Goldbergs’ and will certainly be following all the variations sleeplessly!

(Christian Kabitz)