NEVERMIND 

BACH GOLDBERG VARIATIONS 

World premiere new transcription of Bach’s masterpiece

Ensemble announces new recording and European & North American tour 

(Alpha Classics, February 2025)

French ensemble, Nevermind, and its four baroque stars, Anna Besson (flute), Louis Creac’h (violin), Robin Pharo (viola da gamba) and Jean Rondeau (harpsichord), have undertaken a creative exploration of Bach’s Goldberg Variations and made their own stylishly insightful ‘variations’ on the masterpiece. It is the first time a transcription has been made for this combination of instruments, and the result is a stunning new recording that showcases the work’s harmonic qualities, resonances, dynamic contrasts and remarkable musical structure. The album will be released in February 2025 on Alpha Classics, with a European and North American tour taking place between February and June 2025.

In the course of their work, the ensemble came to marvel at the possibilities andsheer diversity of timbres that their instrumental set-up could bring to the Goldberg Variations. They explain: 

“We needed only an informal rehearsal to grasp the incredible potential of a transcription for our ensemble. There have been other arrangements, but nobody has ever attempted this one before now, even though our instruments are among those most typically used in J.S. Bach’s chamber music. Such as in his many solo sonatas for flute, violin or gamba with bass continuo and obbligato harpsichord – and they also frequently feature in the arias of his cantatas and Passions.’”

They continue: “As we immersed ourselves in the Goldberg’s complexities, we found ourselves revisiting Bach’s workshop, attempting to craft a transcription as close as possible to what Bach himself might have devised, given that he never stopped transcribing his own pieces in order to provide sacred or secular versions, depending on the circumstances and on the instruments at his disposal. In the wish to remain faithful to Bach’s original, we have done our best to present each variation as evenly as possible, in the spirit of the chamber music of the 17th and 18th centuries.

The ensemble will perform the great work, “a monument one never tires of exploring,” in a European tour that takes in dates including London’s Wigmore Hall (9 March 2025), Amsterdam Concertgebouw (25 May), Paris Philharmonie (27 May), Bachfest Leipzig (17 June) as well as for several dates across North America, including San Diego (14 March),  Vancouver (16 March), Philadelphia (18 March) and New York’s Carnegie Hall (mixed programme, 19 March). Full tour dates below.

Album release 

Nevermind / Bach Goldberg Variations

Alpha Classics 

ALPHA1116 February 2025

Release Dates: 

Digital: 7 February 7, 2025 | Physical: February 14, 2025

NEVERMIND TOUR DATES 2025 28 February – Tapiola Hall, Finland
9 March – Wigmore Hall London, UK
14 March – San Diego Early Music Society, US
16 March – Vancouver Recital Society, Canada
18 March – Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, US
19 March – Carnegie Hall, New York, US (mixed programme)
23 March – Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Boston, US 26 April – Liszt Ferenc Academy Budapest, Hungary
28 April – Oviedo, Spain
29 April – Madrid, Spain
30 April – Sevilla, Spain
25 May – Amsterdam Concertgebouw, The Netherlands 27 May – Paris Philharmonie, France
2 June – Bergen Festival, Norway
8 June – Follia Festival, Switzerland
17 June – Bachfest Leipzig, Germany
20 June – Concentus Moraviae Festival, Czech Republic