The Goldberg Festival

The festival dates back to 2006, which saw the 250th anniversary of the death of Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, a harpsichordist and composer born in Gdańsk, who lived between 1727 and 1756, and the first artist to perform the Goldberg Variations by Johann Sebastian Bach (BMV 988).

The Festival has been originated and managed by Alina Ratkowska, a lecturer at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, and the winner of the International Harpsichord Competition in Bologna in 2005.

The primary goal of the Goldberg Festival is to demonstrate the most interesting interpretations of early music, performed with unconventional instrumentation, and to present artistic developments inspired by early music. Also, the event was born of the need to introduce a wider public to the musical heritage of the former Gdańsk. The cooperation established with the library of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Gdańsk allows the performance of the most valuable of the preserved pieces, conceived by seminal Gdańsk artists of the Baroque period. Moreover, by invoking the name of its patron, the festival is a reminder of his ties to Gdańsk.

More information on: Festiwal Goldbergowski