The Goldberg Variations

BWV 988

John Kamitsuka, piano. Aria, Variations 1-30, Aria da capo. (2001). 44:33. 1 CD. DDD stereo

Pianist John Kamitsuka performs regularly in the United States, South America, Europe and Japan. He has played solo recitals at Alice Tully Hall, Kaufmann Hall-92nd St. Y and Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York; Queen Elizabeth Hall in London; the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in Germany; and Yamaha and Piloti Halls in Japan. Television Cultura in Brazil produced a special program featuring his São Paulo Teatro Municipal recital, which continues to be broadcast repeatedly. Mr. Kamitsuka has also recently appeared as soloist performing Bach, Beethoven and Brahms Concertos with the New York Chamber Orchestra, the Bard Music Festival Ensemble and the São Paulo Symphony.

Contains program notes by John Kamitsuka.

Recorded by A. T. Michael MacDonald and Mark Conese at Ambient Recording Co., Stamford, CT. Edited by Rich Lamb. Mastered by A. T. Michael MacDonald at AlgoRhythms, NYC, with a Prism analog-to-digital converter, at 24 bits/96 khz.

Piano Technician: Christopher Solliday, RPT, PTG, Inc.  Piano: Steinway

Sponsored by The Tomorrow Foundation.

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“Kamitsuka played in a clear, open, unaffected way. Several of the Bach Preludes and Fugues were delivered in a fresh, crisp, fluent manner.”—Michael Kimmelman, The New York Times

“Kamitsuka made a powerful impression with his masterly and direct pianistic expression.”—Rheinische Post

“With Kamitsuka at the keyboard, the Goldberg Variations were a fantastic skyride with kaleidoscopic shifts of color and light, opening to horizons where mortal spirits hover like teardrops at immortal thresholds. A man who conveys this dimension of the work, surpassing brilliance and fluency necessarily possesses the reach within himself.”—Kitty Montgomery, Daily Freeman

“Kamitsuka played the 25th variation with a concentration as hypnotic as his performance of rapid variations had been dashing.”—Frank Merkling, The News-Times

“Kamitsuka’s talent is the right blend of energy, feeling and technique—that which we call art.”—Carol Ann Wilcock, The New Milford Times