CD:
J. S. Bach: Goldberg Variations - Zhu Xiao-Mei

0000: This album release makes the acclaimed live recording from St. Thomas Church Leipzig available on CD and across all digital platforms for the first time.

With this Goldberg Variations album, Accentus Music and Zhu Xiao-Mei present a recording of rare distinction. It documents a lifelong artistic relationship — and captures a singular moment in music history.

Zhu Xiao-Mei is widely regarded as one of the most distinguished pianists of our time and among the most profound interpreters of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. Few works are as closely intertwined with her artistic biography as the Goldberg Variations. They marked the beginning of her international career and remain, to this day, what she calls “the greatest musical encounter” of her life. For decades, she has performed this cycle in hundreds of concerts worldwide, engaging in an ever-deepening dialogue with the music, with herself, and with audiences across cultures.

A pinnacle of this extraordinary journey was a concert given at Bach’s final resting place: as the first artist ever, Zhu Xiao-Mei performed the Goldberg Variations at Bach’s grave in Leipzig’s Thomaskirche Leipzig. The unique atmosphere of that evening — shaped by historical proximity, spiritual intensity, and artistic concentration — was initially preserved in an award-winning DVD production. With this release, the recording now becomes available for the first time as an audio-only album, allowing listeners to experience this exceptional interpretation in its pure musical form.

J. S. Bach
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988
Zhu Xiao-Mei, piano

Recorded live at St. Thomas Church Leipzig
June 2014

ACC30675
EAN: 4260234833386

Available on CD and across all digital platforms from March 13, 2026

Soloist Zhu Xiao-Mei
Composer Johann Sebastian Bach
English title Goldberg Variations, BWV 988
Recording location St. Thomas Church Leipzig