"Bach’s Goldberg Variations is music that has been present at all the crucial moments of my life since I was a teenager—and also a piece I’ve always longed to perform. Someone described this extraordinary work as a return journey, from home and back again. The essence of the entire work is to be found in the opening Aria, from which we depart to explore marvelous places near and far, and to which we return enriched and fulfilled… and perhaps a little wiser.
I consider the Goldberg Variations to be a work of such perfection that Bach’s profound message remains intact even in different arrangements. Bach himself transcribed many pieces for the musicians with whom he was working, or for those he esteemed highly. This is exactly what inspired me to write my own arrangement: transcendental music for the outstanding musicians of Tafelmusik.
Special thanks to my brother, the composer Carlo Citterio, for his invaluable assistance with the transcription of the variations."
Watch Elisa's arrangement of Variations no. 1 and no. 30.