Angela Hewitt plays Bach's Goldberg Variations.

Countless composers benefit from Angela Hewitt's finesse, her intellectual grasp and the sheer joy of her playing. But she's most closely associated with the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, and in this program she makes a whole concert of the famed Goldberg Variations.

This is Bach from a pianist who loves to "untie the knots" of his musical intricacies and bring them alive for the listener. "It's the terrific joy and vitality in his music that is important to me," she says, "as well as its relationship to dance. Bringing out those rhythms and making it come alive is what I like best."

The Goldberg Variations are said to have been composed as a cure for insomnia, but in Angela Hewitt's hands they'll keep you awake and on the edge of your seat.

I know of no musician whose Bach playing on any instrument is of greater subtlety, beauty of tone, persuasiveness of judgement or instrumental command... BBC Music Magazine