GoldbergReflections Niklas Liepe & NDR Radiophilharmonie

• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750): Goldberg Variations, BWV 988:
• 1 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Aria (Arr. for Violin, String Orchestra & Harpsichord by Andreas N. Tarkmann) 03:18
• 2 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var.1 (Arr. for Violin, Viola, Cello, String Orchestra & Harpsichord by Andreas N. Tarkmann) 01:52
• Rolf Rudin (b. 1961):
• 3 Dialogue with Bach - A GoldbergReflection for Violin, Harpsichord & 14 Strings 05:03
• Johann Sebastian Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988:
• 4 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var.7 (Arr. for Violin, Harpischord & String Orchestra by Andreas N. Tarkmann) 01:58
• 5 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var.8 (Arr. for Violin, String Orchestra & Harpsichord by Andreas N. Tarkmann) 02:00
• Sidney Corbett (b. 1960):
• 6 Goldberg Hallucination Remix for Violin & 18 Strings 04:46
• Goldberg Variations, BWV 988:
• 7 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var.9 (Arr. for Violin, Viola, Cello & Harpsichord by Andreas N. Tarkmann) 02:10
• 8 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var.10 (Arr. for String Orchestra & Harpsichord by Andreas N. Tarkmann) 01:41
• Andreas Tarkmann (b. 1956):
• 9 Goldberg's Last Summer for Violin, Piano and String Orchestra 03:56
• 10 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var.13 (Arr. for Violin, String Orchestra & Harpsichord by Andreas N. Tarkmann) 03:11
• Dominik J. Dieterle (b. 1989):
• 11 Sleepless after J.S. Bach for Violin & String Orchestra 06:03
• Wolf Kerschek (b. 1969):
• 12 Goldberg Reflections Aria for Violin, String Orchestra & Harpsichord 03:46
• Johann Sebastian Bach:
• 13 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var.16 (Arr. for Violin, String Orchestra & Harpsichord by Andreas N. Tarkmann) 03:02
• Moritz Eggert (b. 1965):
• 14 Four Variations from "Goldberg Spielt" for Violin & String Orchestra 05:36
• Johann Sebastian Bach:
• 15 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var.19 (Arr. for Violin, String Orchestra & Harpsichord by Andreas N. Tarkmann) 01:42
• Daniel Sundy (b. 1979): New Goldberg Variations on a Theme of J.S. Bach for Violin & String Orchestra:
• 16 New Goldberg Variations on a Theme of J.S. Bach for Violin & String Orchestra: I. Heaven or Hell 02:14
• 17 New Goldberg Variations on a Theme of J.S. Bach for Violin & String Orchestra: II. The Elements 01:08
• 18 New Goldberg Variations on a Theme of J.S. Bach for Violin & String Orchestra: III. The Moocher 01:37
• 19 New Goldberg Variations on a Theme of J.S. Bach for Violin & String Orchestra: IV. Metal Quodlibet 01:31
• Johann Sebastian Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988:
• 20 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var.21 (Arr. for Violin, Viola, Cello & Harpsichord by Andreas N. Tarkmann) 02:40
• 21 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var.22 (Arr. for String Orchestra & Harpsichord by Andreas N. Tarkmann) 01:36
• Tobias Rokahr (b. 1972):
• 22 Sleepless (Goldberg Goes Crazy) for Violin, Harpsichord & String Orchestra 05:16
• Johann Sebastian Bach:
• 23 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var.25 (Arr. for Violin, String Orchestra & Harpsichord by Andreas N. Tarkmann) 03:34
• Friedrich Heinrich Kern (b. 1980):
• 24 Reflections on a Dream for Violin, Verrophone and String Orchestra 07:48
• Johann Sebastian Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988:
• 25 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var.29 (Arr. for Violin, Viola, Cello, String Orchestra & Harpsichord by Andreas N. Tarkmann) 01:55
• 26 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var.30 (Arr. for Violin, String Orchestra & Harpsichord by Andreas N. Tarkmann) 01:26
• Stephan Koncz (b. 1984):
• 27 GoldBergHain (Quodlibet on "Kraut und Rüben haben mich vertrieben") for Violin & String Orchestra 02:44
• Johann Sebastian Bach:
• 28 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Aria da capo (Arr. for Violin, String Orchestra and Harpsichord by Andreas N. Tarkmann) 02:26
• Konstantia Gourzi (b. 1962): Lullabies for Three Flowers for Violin & String Orchestra:
• 29 Lullabies for Three Flowers for Violin & String Orchestra: I. A Lullaby for a Rose 02:28
• 30 Lullabies for Three Flowers for Violin & String Orchestra: II. A Lullaby for a Wind Flower 01:28
• 31 Lullabies for Three Flowers for Violin & String Orchestra: III. A Lullaby for a Jasmine 03:48
• Total Runtime 01:33:43

Info for GoldbergReflections

The new Album #GoldbergReflections by violinist Niklas Liepe is a re:work / re:think of one of the most famous compositions by J.S.Bach, the Goldberg Variations.

The recordings for the “#GoldbergReflections” were made in February in the Great Broadcast Hall of the NDR in Hannover. Together with the strings of the NDR Radiophilharmonie and conductor Jamie Phillips, Niklas Liepe recorded a new string arrangement of the Harpsichord Variations and eleven new pieces, by composers such as Andreas Tarkmann, Moritz Eggert, Friedrich Heinrich Kern, and Konstantia Gourzi.

The result is a magical and deeply impressive Goldberg Experience for violin and string orchestra, quite familiar and at the same time completely new.

For many years, the young violinist Niklas Liepe has performed the works of the great masters, and those of contemporary composers as well, with great dedication and authenticity. Today he is convinced that he has more to offer, as a musician of the younger generation. He sees himself as a builder of bridges between the works of the “old masters” and the music of our times. He wishes to create an interaction of sorts between the music of earlier eras and the present, anchoring “classical” music in the social mainstream of our everyday lives.

Niklas Liepe has turned to Johann Sebastian Bach. Liepe says of Bach’s music: „When I first learned to play Johann Sebastian Bach’s solo partitas and sonatas on the violin, I immediately noticed that this music was different, larger than anything I had played before. I was fascinated and soon realized that it would be a special wish of mine to deal with the music of this great German musical genius and reformer in a really new way, based on what was there.” The result was to be magical and deeply impressive Goldberg Variations for violin and string orchestra, quite familiar and at the same time completely new when experienced in the concert hall.

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Goldberg Variations are arguably among the most unusual works of music in existence. They are both an important musicological milestone of amazing significance and at the same time very intimate, fragile and unique. Further interpretations seem to lie in wait within the theme of the Goldberg Variations. Thus the idea of creating new Goldberg Variations for violin and string orchestra was born. The composers were encouraged to recognize the very demanding ask of dealing with 280-year-old music in new compositions in such a manner as to create, with clarity and insight, a bridge to the present day.

Niklas Liepe, violin
NDR Radiophilharmonie
Jamie Phillips, conductor

Niklas Liepe
One of those highly talented young soloists who goes his own way, regardless. One of those artists constantly coming up with new ideas, launching projects that take real courage, because both the concept and the artistic standards boarder on the brazen.

With his Paganini Project, the Hamburg-based violinist Niklas Liepe attracted international attention and sparkling reviews during the past year. He commissioned some 20 composers and arrangers to rearrange Niccolò Paganini’s mind-bogglingly difficultcaprices for solo violin to be played with orchestral accompaniment – each of the pieces in its own unique style. Foxtrot and tango, jazz and reverberant romanticism go hand in hand in these amusing, irreverent new versions, all of which leave the original violin solo part unaltered. In 2017 Niklas Liepe and his brother founded the „Liepe & Co. Festival” at a steel warehouse near Hannover’s South Train Station. Here, too, he tests the limits of classical music anew.

During the 2019/2020 season, Niklas Liepe will be appearing in Europe and Asia with the NDR Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and the Polish Radio Orchestra, performing works by F. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Paganini, F. Say and C. Saint-Säens. Debut performances will take him to the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, the TauberPhilharmonie in Weikersheim, the Glocke in Bremen, the HitzackerSummer Music Festival and the Lower Saxony Music Festival.

In addition, he will be appearing at the Berlin Philharmonic and will be teaching at the Villa Musica in Rheinland-Pfalz.

Liepe’s second CD project, #GoldbergReflections, together with conductor Jamie Phillips and the NDR Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, is scheduled for release in the fall of 2020.

Niklas Liepe has performed with such artists as GidonKremer, Yuri Bashmet, Fazil Say, Christoph Eschenbach and Andras Schiff.

He has appeared as a soloist with the Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester, the Bratislava Slovakian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Kaohsiung City Symphony Orchestra, the Rheinland-Pfalz State Orchestra and the German Radio Philharmonic of Saarbrücken/Kaiserslautern, among others, with such conductors as Garry Walker, Hartmut Haenchen, Christoph Eschenbach and Gregor Bühl.

Niklas Liepe has received awards from the Northern German Broadcasting Corporation, the Braunschweig Classix Festival, the Danzig Festival in Poland, the Kocian Violin Competition in the Czech Republic, as well as double awards from the International HenrykWieniawski Violin Competition in Poland and the 2017 German Music Competition. He studied at the Hannover Music University with Prof. Krzysztof Wegrzyn, at the Cologne Music University with Prof. Zakhar Bron and with Prof. Ana Chumachenco and Prof. Mihaela Martin at the Kronsberg Academy.

Booklet for GoldbergReflections