Pianist brings love-em-or-hate-em variations to Bach

By Anastasia Tsioulcas

NEW YORK (Billboard) - The big classical-music chart surprise this fall has been Simone Dinnerstein's traversal of the Bach Goldberg Variations.

As Dinnerstein herself observed of the Telarc release, "I knew when I made this recording that people would either love it or hate it, And that's what happened -- I've received very strong reactions from both ends of the spectrum and very little in the middle."

Her artistic choices, especially in taking unusually slow and spacious tempos, have been heatedly discussed throughout the classical music industry. So what was the idea behind her interpretation?

"I really wanted the Goldberg Variations to have an organic sense of rhythm, not something motor-like, and that sort of affected the whole structure of the piece," the 34-year-old Brooklynite said.

"And since I made the recording, I've been experimenting with making it even more rhythmically free," Dinnerstein continued. "I have this idea that rigidity of rhythm, of pulse, is something very much belonging to the 19th and 20th century. I have a feeling that that strictness, that kind of rhythmic precision, has something to do with the development of the mechanical engine and the industrial revolution. To me, there's a certain kind of improvisatory freedom to Bach's writing that should be explored."

Reuters/Billboard