Perfect Music Hated

“The Goldbergs are a desert of happiness with oases of sadness: we drink thirstily at all-too-rare darkness. People often say their favorite variation is number 25, the last minor variation, the darkest, the so-called ‘black pearl.’ But number 25 is a pretty serious exception. What they’re saying is that their favorite part of the piece is the part that’s not really like the piece.”
 — It is “Goldberg Week” over at NPR, and pianist Jeremy Denk calls them “the Martha Stewart of Variations.” [Related]