Internationally Acclaimed Australian Pianist Sarah Grunstein to Perform J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations

Praised by the New York Times for her "penetrating musical intelligence", her performance "tempestuous" and "imbued with a luminous calm", internationally acclaimed Australian pianist Sarah Grunstein has performed in the United States, Austria, Hungary, Italy, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and her homeland. Sarah Grunstein, who is gaining international acclaim for her performances of Bach will tour Australia in 2016, performing J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations at the Melbourne Recital Center on Thursday 20 October and the Sydney Opera House on Tuesday 25 October.

Sarah Grunstein's career has been marked by her magnetic charisma, her musical intelligence and sublime expressivity. Passionate about engaging with audiences, her concerts will include her introductory talk with her audiences about the Goldberg Variations.

Many will remember Sarah Grunstein as the pianist who, as a young teenager, performed the soundtrack for Bruce Beresford's early Australian film, "The Getting of Wisdom." Sarah Grunstein soon after moved to New York, graduating from The Juilliard School (where she was later appointed as a Teaching Fellow), and earned her doctorate at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. A long time Steinway Artist, her career has included concerts at London's Southbank Centre, New York's Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Italy, Austria, Hungary, the U.K., New Zealand, and her homeland.

In its demands of musicianship, keyboard technique, and stamina, Bach's Goldberg Variations is perhaps one of the most challenging works in the keyboard literature. Composed for a two-manual harpsichord, the work demands more of the pianist than even the harpsichordist. The pianist must negotiate the various "hand-crossings" (sometimes one hand directly on top of the other), a physical intricacy and contrapuntal overlapping of which the harpsichordist who would be playing on two manuals, is spared.

Miss Grunstein is passionate about performing Bach. From her early studies with Australian pedagogue Nancy Salas, she learned about 18th-century styles, character, dance, emotion, and improvisatory performance. This was at a time when most people were still performing Bach in a very "rigid" way. She remarks, "People ask me how I do what I do. I've studied and played a lot of Bach, and have read much about 18th and 19th century style - not only musical style, but compositional style, improvisation, improvisatory performance (slightly different from improvisation), and the language of various arts genres including dance, visual arts, and literature. Even though I am playing music that was composed for the harpsichord, I treat the piano as a piano and let my 'pianist-voice' speak. Keeping in my mind and heart Bach's compositional language and what I believe was his creative intent, I go to town with it."

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