When Gustav Leonhardt made this second recording of his of the Goldberg Variations in 1965, there were only about half a dozen other available versions played on the harpsichord (the best of them by Kirkpatrick and Malcolm): there are now at least three times that number (including his own third reading, made a decade later). This was certainly the most acceptable of his three: the first was too cold-blooded, the third too mannered and cavalier in rhythm. As a performance the present version commands respect for its clarity of thought and its control; but it is a sober reading, avoiding any apparent enjoyment in virtuosity by adopting deliberate tempos for the most part, even rather plodding in the minor-key variations and, fatally, in the jolly Quodlibet at the end. I’m afraid it does not compare very favourably with the many persuasive performances now on the market, especially as it omits all repeats (which explains the disc’s short duration) and, more particularly, in view of the frankly horrible tinny sound.'