San Francisco Classical Voice

It would be hard to find a single piece of music that has absorbed as many musicians' lives as Bach's "Goldberg" Variations. There's the case of Glenn Gould, recording the set in 1955 and then again in 1981. And Rosalyn Tureck, initiated into the variations as a teenager, calling them "an infinite work of art" which she continues to perform on harpsichord and piano at 85. After an Andras Schiff performance of them, he debated the "Goldbergs" with Gould until six in the morning. I knew a pianist who was fired from playing at a bar after he insisted on playing nothing but back-to-back "Goldbergs."

Robin Sutherland, best known as the San Francisco Symphony's pianist, first performed the "Goldberg" Variations at the age of sixteen. He last played the complete set in San Francisco in 1983, so it was no surprise that his Sunday afternoon performance attracted a full house.

The obstacle of Bay Bridge traffic caused me to miss the first several variations, which was especially irritating because Sutherland shaped the set so beautifully: I didn't just miss the beginning of a sequence, but the cornerstone of a carefully constructed edifice. Sutherland struck a perfect balance between revealing a preconceived whole and maintaining spontaneity. He brought Bach's interplay of virtuosity and introspection into focus.

Taking all the repeats, he varied each repeated section with subtle dynamic shadings and smatterings of ornaments. With the 25th variation especially, he cast a spell and created the illusion that whatever was coming up was as mysterious to him as it was to us. The sound world into which he drew us was almost painfully intimate.

Sutherland's account remained deeply personal even through a few questionable moments. He gave Variation 15 an aura of placidity, even though the tug of its contrary motion and its tense dissonances are far from calm. And he could have played the final variation with more buoyancy and humor: after all, one of the folk songs Bach used is "Cabbage and beets have driven me away"--not so suited to Sutherland's refined interpretation.

And it must have been the sweltering afternoon heat that either compelled Sutherland to skip the 26th variation, or made me hallucinate that he left it out. He also ran through the 27th without repeats. It was broiling in the hall, and he was clearly uncomfortable. At the halfway mark, he announced a five-minute break "so I can wring out my shirt."

Sutherland's concert was a benefit for Noe Valley Chamber Music's piano fund. It's been clear for years that this excellent series needs an adequate instrument. Sutherland played a new baby grand, and at times seemed to fight against it. With luck, and donations, the next piano in that space will be more friendly.

(Sarah Cahill is a pianist and a music critic for the Express, and hosts a music show on KPFA (94.1 FM) every Friday from 10 am to noon.)

©2000 Sarah Cahill, all rights reserved