Album: Bach, Goldberg Variations – Sylvain Blassel (Lontano)

The vogue for performing harpsichord music on a harp has reached its zenith in two recent recordings of the Goldberg Variations.

Attractively paired with the "Fourteen Canons on a Ground Bass", Sylvain Blassel's performance is slightly crisper than that of Catrin Finch. Her sweetly turned minor-key movements are persuasive and the quasi-orchestral grandeur of Variation 16 is remarkably successful. Despite this, the harp's starry-eyed timbre steam-irons Bach's textures into dreamy blandness.

Pick of the Album: A finer fit of instrument to music in Bach's 'Fourteen Canons'