Goldberg Variations discography

This is a list of commercial or professional recordings of Johann Sebastian Bach's Goldberg Variations, organized chronologically. The list is sortable by clicking on the small arrows at the top of each column.

ArtistDatePlaceRecordingInstrument and repeats Serkin, Rudolf Stuttgart Welte piano rolls piano Landowska, Wanda November 1933 Paris EMI 5 6720 ADD harpsichord Arrau, Claudio January–March 1942 RCA CD GD 87841 (not released until 1988"How Claudio Arrau Nearly Became Glenn Gould". Steinway.com, Accessed October 15, 2025.) piano Landowska, Wanda 1945 New York City RCA harpsichord Tureck, Rosalyn 1947 mono Allegro / Everest piano Kirkpatrick, Ralph 1952 mono Haydn Society harpsichord Leonhardt, Gustav 1953 Vienna stereo Vanguard (the first of three recordings by this artist) harpsichord Demus, Jörg June 1953 Austria Nixa WLP 5241, mono piano, 49 minutes Ahlgrimm, Isolde January 1954 Vienna Philips, mono Ammer harpsichord Gould, Glenn June 21, 1954 Toronto from CBC broadcast, mono piano, no repeats. Gould, Glenn June 10, 1955 New York City Sony Classical 52 594 ADD; Goldberg Variations piano (Steinway D-274), no repeats. Richter, Karl January 1956 Telefunken harpsichord Friskin, James March 28, 1956 Masonic Temple, Brooklyn, New York Bach Guild / Vanguard harpsichord Tureck, Rosalyn 1957 London, Abbey Road Studios HMV / Capitol, 2 CD Philips "Great pianists of the century" piano Gould, Glenn 1959 live at Salzburg Festival Sony Classical 52685 ADD piano Kirkpatrick, Ralph 1959 Deutsche Grammophon 439 673-2 ADD harpsichord Walcha, Helmut June 1960 – March 1961 Hamburg EMI 4 89166 ADD harpsichord Malcolm, George 1963 UK L'Oiseau Lyre Thomas Goff harpsichord Demus, Jörg June 1963 Vienna Westminster WMS 1004, stereo piano, 54 minutes Leonhardt, Gustav 1965 Teldec (Das Alte Werk) harpsichord Serkin, Peter March 1965 New York City RCA (the first of 5 recordings by this artist when he was 17) piano Yudina, Maria January 1968 Moscow Philips 456 994-2 "Great pianists of the century" piano Kempff, Wilhelm July 1969 Deutsche Grammophon 439 978-2 ADD piano Rosen, Charles July 1969 Sony SBK 48173 ADD piano Richter, Karl 1970 Archiv Produktion POCA-9085 harpsichord Newman, Anthony 1971 Columbia M 30538 harpsichord Spiegelman, Joel May 1973 East-West, ISI Productions, Atlantic New Age Bach: The Goldberg Variations ADD "Kurzweil 250 Digital Synthesizer" Demus, Jörg 1974 Nuova Era piano, 74 minutes Johannesen, Grant c. 1975 Golden Crest 4167 piano Kipnis, Igor 1976 New York City EMI / Angel harpsichord Leonhardt, Gustav August 1976 Haarlem Deutsche Harmonia Mundi GD77149 ADD (his third and last recording) harpsichord Curtis, Alan September 23, 1976 location unknown EMI 7630622 1728 Christian Zell harpsichord Scheurich, Marga 1977 LP Saphir Intercord INT 120.886 Cembalo, harpsichord Nikolayeva, Tatiana 1979 Moscow Melodiya C10-13091 (2LP), Relief CR861006 (1CD), Victor VICC40126/7 (2CD). Nikolayeva's 1st recording. piano Tureck, Rosalyn 1979 or 1984 Most probably Hamburg DG, Reissue 1988 1 CD VAI Audio piano Pinnock, Trevor 1980 Archiv Produktion 415 130-2 ADD harpsichord Weissenberg, Alexis 1981 EMI 5 74952 2 piano Gould, Glenn April/May 1981 New York City originally CBS Masterworks MK 37779, now Sony Classical 52619 DDD (his second and last studio recording of the Goldbergs) piano (Yamaha CF II), No repeats. Serkin, Peter 30 January 1982 Freiburg, Germany (live) SWF 75/76 (the second of his recordings of the work) piano Sokolov, Grigory 27 February 1982 Leningrad (live) Melodiya piano Schiff, András 1983 Decca 417 116-2 (1 CD) All repeats Nikolayeva, Tatiana April 1983 Aarhus, Denmark Classico Classcd 416 (1CD). Nikolayeva's 2nd recording. piano Ross, Scott April 1985 live at Tabaret Hall, University of Ottawa Erato / Fonovox harpsichord Pi-hsien, ChenPi-hsien's recording was released as one of many performances falsely attributed to Joyce Hatto October 1985 Festeburgkirche, Frankfurt Naxos 8.550078 DDD piano Serkin, Peter 12–15 March 1986 Saint Paul, Minnesota (live) ProArte CDD-331 (the third of his recordings of the work) piano Gilbert, Kenneth April 1986 Mas de Vert, Arles 1 CD Harmonia Mundi harpsichord Tipo, Maria 26–28 June 1986 Paris EMI HMV 5 86666 DDD piano Nikolayeva, Tatiana 10 November 1986 St. John’s, Smith Square, London BBC 6483445 (1CD). Nikolayeva's 3rd recording. piano Nikolayeva, Tatiana 9 September 1987 Berwald Hall, Stockholm Bluebell ABCD043 (1CD). Nikolayeva's 4th recording. piano Lazko, Igor c.1987 Belgrade Broadcasting, PGP 2330172 piano Guillou, Jean November 1987 Eglise Notre-Dame des Neiges, Alpe d'Huez, France Dorian 90110 organ Hussong, Stefan 1987/1988 Thorofon DDD chromatic button accordion Ross, Scott January 1988 Salle Blanqui, Paris EMI / Virgin Veritas harpsichord Koopman, Ton 1988 ERATO 45326-2 DDD harpsichord Jarrett, Keith January 1989 ECM Records 839 622-2 DDD; J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations harpsichord Kawalla, Bronisława February 1989 Polskie Nagrania PNCD 055 DDD piano Vartolo, Sergio June 1989 Tactus harpsichord Barenboim, Daniel October 12, 1989 Live recording, Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires Erato ER2-45468 piano Asperen, Bob van July 1991 Berlin EMI 7 54209 DDD harpsichord Schie, Tjako van February 1991 Netherlands Rondo 001 DDD piano Jaccottet, Christiane 1991 Pilz 160127 harpsichord, no repeats Black, Virginia 1991 Collins 70032-2 (2 CDs) harpsichord, all repeats Cole, Maggie 1991 Virgin 5 61555 (2 CDs) DDD harpsichord Feltsman, Vladimir October 26, 1991 live at the Moscow Conservatory Musical Heritage Society 513260T DDD piano, all repeats Nikolayeva, Tatiana January 23, 1992 Rosslyn Hill Unitarian Chapel, Hampstead, London Hyperion Records CDA66589. Nikolayeva's 5th recording. piano Hantaï, Pierre June 1992 Opus 111 OPS 30–84 DDD (the first of his two recordings) harpsichord Verlet, Blandine September 1992 L'Eglise de Saint Hippolyte (Tarn), France Astrée Auvidis E 8745 (her second recording of this work). Re-released on Naïve, 2012 1751 Hemsch harpsichord Canino, Bruno January 16–17, 1993 Lugano Ermitage ERM 412-2 DDD piano Lauriala, Risto September 13–14, 1993 ALBA ABCD103 piano Gavrilov, Andrei 1993 Deutsche Grammophon 435 436-2 DDD piano New European Strings Chamber Orchestra October 1993 Hamburg Nonesuch, transcription by Dmitry Sitkovetsky orchestra Bühler-Kestler, Eleanore October 1993 Bayreuth CHARADE; CHA 3012 DDD harpsichord Kumamoto, Mari December 1, 1993 King Records (Japan) KICC-110 piano Serkin, Peter June 1–3, 1994 New York City BMG Classics 09026 68188 2 DDD (the fourth of his recordings of the work) piano Lifschitz, Konstantin June 10–13, 1994 Denon Records #78961 DDD (Lifschitz was 17 at time of recording.) piano Rousset, Christophe September 27–29, 1994 originally L'Oiseau-Lyre, now Decca 475 7080 DDD harpsichord, all repeats Dershavina, Ekaterina 1994 Arte Nova Catalog #: 340110 piano, all repeats except Aria da capo Schepkin, Sergey January 15, 1995 Ongaku Records 024-107 DDD piano, all repeats Cooper, Kenneth (harpsichordist) 1995 Berkshire Bach Society harpsichord Bartos, Samuel 1995 Connoisseur Society piano Aldwell, Edward 1996 Biddulph flw001 DDD piano Rodarmer, Kurt 1996 Sony SK 60257 DDD two guitars (overdubbed) Sutherland, Robin 1996 d'Note Classics DND 1013- ADD piano, all repeats Suzuki, Masaaki February, June and July 1997 BIS BIS-CD-310819 DDD harpsichord All repeats Eötvös, József 1997 EJ-01WZ DDD solo guitar Mašek, Michal 1997 LT 0056-2 131 piano Katz, Shelley 18–19 November 1997 Snape Maltings Concert Hall Private Label – Produced by Erik Smith with fewer than 30 edits to the entire master piano, all repeats except for minor variations Ivo Janssen Februari 1998 Void piano Tureck, Rosalyn March 1998 Hamburg 2 CD DG (the seventh and last recording of the Goldbergs by this artist) piano Vieru, Andrei 1998 Harmonia Mundi 901666 piano Bezuijen, Abram 1998 VLS Records VLC 0598 organ Zhu, Xiao-Mei 1999 Mandala Records DDD piano Canadian Brass 1999 RCA Red Seal DDD (Echo Award 2002) brass quintet Martin Beaver, David Harding, and Bryan Epperson 1999 CBC Studios, Toronto, Ontario CBC Musica Viva MVCD 1130 string trio Koroliov, Evgeni 1999 Festeburgkirche, Frankfurt am Main, Germany Hänssler piano Belder, Pieter-Jan 20 April, 8/9 July 1999 Brilliant Classics 92284 DDD harpsichord Hewitt, Angela 28 August-1 September 1999 Henry Wood Hall, London Hyperion Records CDA 67305 piano Schirmer, Ragna June 1999 Johanniterkirche, Groß Eichsen, Germany Berlin Classics 001716 DDD piano Les Violons du Roy September 1999 Saint-Irénée, Québec, Canada 1 CD Dorian transcription for string orchestra Amati String Trio December 1999 Middelburg Synagogue, The Netherlands Columns Classics 99564 DDD string Perahia, Murray July 2000 Sony Classical SK/SM 89243 DDD piano (Steinway D-274) Okonar, Mehmet 2000 LMO-Records UTC 8697408800030 DDD piano Kłosiewicz, Władysław 2000 Accord ACD 081-2 harpsichord Canadian Brass 2000 RCA 63610 horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba Jacques Loussier Trio 2000 Telarc CD-83479 DDD jazz trio Caine, Uri 2000 Recorded in New York, Italy and Germany October 1999 – January 2000 Winter & Winter 910 054 The Goldberg Variations rock, dub, electro, jazz, ragtime, blues, avant-garde, valse, Christmas music, soul, tango, mambo, gospel, bebop, experimental, drum & bass, samba, klezmer, bossa nova, etc. Toth, Gwendolyn 2000 Zefiro Recordings ZR 103 (2 CDs) lute harpsichord Frisch, Celine 2001 Alpha 14 (2 CDs) with BWV 1087 harpsichord Degazio, Bruno 2001 electronic wind instrumentMuch of this material by Bruno Degazio is in the public domain. "Variatio 1. a 1 Clav." is arranged for clarinet and trombone, "Variatio 7. a 1 ô vero 2 Clav. al tempo di Giga" is arranged for clarinet and bassoon; "Variatio 18 a 1 Clav. Canone alla Sexta" is arranged for two clarinets and cello; "Variatio 19. a 1 Clav." is arranged for two clarinets and cello; and, "Variatio 21 Canone alla Settima" is arranged for two clarinets and bass.Bruno Degazio, Sheridan College, Music Performances (accessed July 28, 2015). Vinikour, Jory 2001 San Raphael, CA Delos Records harpsichord All repeats Dimetrik, Wolfgang 2001 Amphion records 20126 DDD accordion Schlimé, Francesco Tristano 2001 Accord ACD 098 with BWV 622 piano Bahrami, Ramin February 2002 La Chaux-de-Fonds (CH) Decca 476 282 DDD piano Schiff, András October 2002 Basel ECM DDD (his second recording; made live in concert) piano Haugsand, Ketil 2002 Simax PSC 1192 harpsichord Bjørkøe, Christina 2002 Scandinavian Classics 220590 -205 DDD pianoBanton, Hugh2002The Organ Workshop, Lymm, Cheshire and aboard 'NB Tocata' on the Bridgewater CanalFIE 9128Organ Crossland, Jill 2003 Apex (Warner Classics) 0927 49979 2 DDD piano Hantaï, Pierre 2003 Mirare MIR 9945 DDD (his second recording) harpsichord Stadtfeld, Martin March 2004 Sony BMG SK93101 DDD piano Väyrynen, Mika 2004 ALBA ABCD 191 accordion Ennis, Catherine 2004 Mollterz organ Ogeil, Jacqueline 2004 ABC Classics – Discovery 476 3529 harpsichord Trio Zilliacus Persson RaitinenWon a Swedish Grammis in the Classical Ensemble of the Year category in 2004. 2004 Caprice CAP-21695 string trio Jandó, Jenő 2005 Naxos 8.557268 DDD piano Martins, João Carlos 2005 Tomato 2126 piano Gaede Trio 2005 Tacet 070CD (2 CD) DDD string trio Tůma, Jaroslav 2005 Arta F101362 (2 CD) harpsichord, clavichords Egarr, Richard 8–11 March 2005 Harmonia Mundi HMU 907425.26, with BWV 1087 DDD harpsichord Cheung, Pius 2006 MPC marimba Beausejour, Luc 2006 Analekta harpsichord Gould, Glenn (with Zenph Re-Performance) May 2007 Glenn Gould Studio, Toronto Sony Classics, 88697-03350-2 piano Barshai, Elena Autumm 2007 Brilliant Classics organ Dinnerstein, Simone 2007 Telarc CD-80692 DDD piano Levin, Beth April 28, 2007 Steinway Hall, New York City Centaur Records, Inc. CRC 2927 DDD piano Schliessmann, Burkard July 17–19, 2007 Teldex Studios Berlin BAYER 100 326 (Qualiton) piano MacGregor, Joanna September 30 – October 1, 2007 Mozarteum concert hall, Salzburg, Austria Warner Classics 2564-6