Chinese pianist Lang Lang at a March recital of the complete Goldberg Variations at the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, Germany, the final resting place of its composer, Johann Sebastian Bach.  (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Towering masterpiece Goldberg Variations is tackled brilliantly by undaunted pianist Lang Lang, who brings what he describes as a different approach to a challenging piece of music.

It's been three years since I have given a solo performance and it was the Goldberg Variations. 

Lang Lang, Chinese pianist

After years of practice, preparation and reflection, Chinese pianist Lang Lang finally presents his version of Bach's Goldberg Variations to the public.

Earlier this year, before the world struggled with the coronavirus pandemic, the pianist made a studio recording of the Goldberg Variations in Berlin. On March 1, he played the complete composition in Wiesbaden, Germany. A few days later, he performed the same piece at the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, the final resting place of Johann Sebastian Bach.

"I was very nervous before I gave the first recital on March 1. It's been three years since I have given a solo performance and it was the Goldberg Variations. I couldn't sleep the night before and, after the show, I felt so exhausted, I didn't even have the strength to go to dinner," recalls Lang, speaking from a hotel in Shanghai. In 2017, he suffered an inflammation in his left arm, resulting in canceled concerts and a severely curtailed tour schedule ever since.

"I've been studying this work for more than 20 years, and recording it has been a lifelong dream. When it actually happened, I became part of the piece. It was an unbelievably emotional moment," he adds. "Especially when I performed at the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig where Bach worked and is buried, I have never felt so close to the composer."

On Sept 4, the pianist will release a new album, Johann Sebastian Bach: Goldberg Variations, featuring two recordings of the same piece-a studio and a live version.

He says that he didn't plan to include the live version on the new album, "but the atmosphere in the church was so awe-inspiring".

The cover of his new album which features the performance. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

"What made it even more special was to play the Goldberg Variations," he says. "The moment of playing the piece live cannot be replicated, so I decided to preserve it and present it to a wider audience.

"Releasing both recordings gives me the opportunity to demonstrate different approaches to the work and to reveal the myriad possibilities it presents to the performer."

He also notes that the live version is very spontaneous, whereas in the studio his playing is different-far more considered and reflective.

Bach published the Goldberg Variations in 1741 and today it is considered as one of the best examples of its type

Bach published the Goldberg Variations in 1741 and today it is considered as one of the best examples of its type. Written for the harpsichord, the work consists of 30 variations and an aria. In the words of American musicologist John Gillespie, the work is "the crowning achievement of the Baroque keyboard".

Born in Shenyang, Northeast China's Liaoning province, Lang started to play piano at the age of 3.He was introduced to Bach's music by his first teacher, Chinese pianist Zhu Yafen, and began exploring the Goldberg Variations when still a teenager.

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"I didn't quite like Bach's music at first because his pieces were not interesting enough for me. However, as I grew up, I realized that I didn't understand the composer and I was wrong," Lang says.

At 17, Lang played the Goldberg Variations from memory in an empty concert hall for German conductor and pianist Christoph Eschenbach. "He played it by heart," the maestro said. "Lang Lang had studied every last detail and played the work with enormous stylistic awareness. It was quite an experience!"

Lang, though, knew back then that he wasn't ready to record the piece. In his mid-20s, he returned to the work and played it to Austrian conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt on the conductor's harpsichord. After Lang had played part of the work, Harnoncourt said: "You played very well, but the music needs a greater sense of solitude. You need to find more stillness within yourself." Harnoncourt then played a couple of passages for Lang, which "opened my eyes to completely new dimensions and approaches to Bach's music," Lang says, adding that it is "indeed a work that one needs to be able to study in absolute peace".

It was another 10 years before he felt that the time was right to preserve his interpretation for posterity.

Over the past two years, the pianist practiced the pieces of the Goldberg Variations every single day for about 30 minutes. As part of his preparations, he met up with the German harpsichordist and pianist Andreas Staier, who gave Lang his perspective on the work.

They discussed pedal use, ornamentation, dynamics and Baroque performance style. Then, while in Arnstadt, Germany, he had the chance to hear and play the Baroque organ that Bach himself played.

"Hearing the sound of that instrument and understanding the way it was played gave me unbelievable joy-I could feel the rhythm and pulse of the Baroque style," he recalls. "By exploring the wider context of a work, you can narrow down your own interpretation.

"I'm now 38, and while that is not old, I think the time was right for a new stage in my artistic development. I've moved into new terrain with the Goldberg Variations and really immersed myself fully in this project."

The new album is his first release since he married pianist Gina Alice Redlinger last year. He says that his wife, who is German, helped him read and understand some background information about the Goldberg Variations while he recorded the new album. During his recitals in Germany in March, she was also there supporting him.

With onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, Lang was forced to cancel more than 80 concerts, including his collaborations with established symphony orchestras, such as the Philadelphia Orchestra and Boston Symphony Orchestra.

The couple remained in the public eye with appearances on several Chinese reality TV shows in recent months.

As he says, he took those opportunities to relax and introduce classical music to a wider audience.

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"It was horrible to have all the concerts canceled, which made me frustrated. Luckily, I had my Goldberg Variations project done before the pandemic," Lang says.

In support of the new album, he plans to give recitals in Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, Shaanxi province, and Tianjin later this year.

"My goal as an artist is to keep becoming more self-aware and more knowledgeable, as well as to keep offering inspiration to others. It's an ongoing process, but this project has taken me a little further along the path," he says.