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Bach Cello Suites

lordsummit

lordsummit

Moderator
A subject I have much interest in as a Viola player, probably some of my favourite music, but recordings I wholeheartedly enjoy are thin on the ground, Starker, Tortelier, Casals, Ma all provide apposite performances, I enjoy them, but in some way I find them also unsatisfying. There’s so much music in these pieces every musician who’s worked on them has their own interpretation. I’ve just been listening though to these:

J S Bach: Suiten Fur Violoncello https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07576S8WY/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21

Demenga’s playing is wonderful, he has a wonderful mix of gut stringed graininess, with a more modern sense of musical pointing. I can take issue with the way he divides the double stops sometimes, but overall the phrasing is extraordinary. It could be my go to Bach Cello Suites.
 
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I’ve got the Starker on (now deleted) Mercury SACD and the Fournier on DGG Archiv, and I think I prefer the latter.
 
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I know all the above, they all amaze and frustrate me. Fournier and Rostropovich are two I should have mentioned I guess. I was just blown away by how musical and beautifully phrased and pointed the Demenga was. Well worth a listen if you haven’t heard it.
 
A bit left field, but as I have Francois Rabbath's Multibass album, I looked for him on Qobuz. This came up. As a double bass fan, I rather like it.
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The only other Bach cello suites I have is the Maurice Gendron recording.
 
Maybe a good idea to post your links using the "link" button (the one that looks like an infinity sign)?
 
Fournier's set has remained my favorite since I first heard it, though I've not explored too many versions. I've sampled Sung Won Yang's new Decca recording via streaming, and despite the excessively distant sound, it sounds like a slightly updated Fournier. I'm mulling over getting Yang's EMI and Decca recordings to do a shootout with Fournier. I also confess to enjoying Maisky's second recording, despite it's more romantic approach. That's sort of why I like it, I guess.
 
There's a perfection to Fournier that would put it ahead of the pack, except I prefer more verve.
 
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I also love the Fournier, probably more than any other, including Starker. However I do think the Rostropovich has some amazing qualities too, although a very different recording and performance. His D Minor Prelude has the most grandeur and sublimity of all that I've heard.

I haven't actually listened to the Cello Suites in the last year, so must go back. My Starker boxed set has not had nearly enough play.
 
I’ll be outed as a heretic, and probably deservedly so, but the legendary Mercury Living Presence recording of the Starker is just too ‘reverby’ for me. I wish it was a little drier and more focused! I haven’t played it for a few years so should really dig it out for a re-evaluation just in case I’m talking guff!
 
That's why I tend towards the Fournier, which is a much more earthier recording, without the 'reverby' quality you are talking about. On the other hand, the Rostropovich is all air and space, but I love it. My memory of the Starker, purely from a recording point of view, is that it has that reverb but without the sense of grandeur and vastness. Still need to go back to it though. Maybe tomorrow...
 
I recall hearing Rostropovich playing a couple of the Suites in King's College chapel in the very early 70s. That remained the definitive version, but only as a memory. A few years later I bought the Casals version on LP (recorded in the mid/late 30s) which interpreted the music so well, but was a little short of outright sound quality. Since those days I have bough both Rostropovich and Starker versions. The Starker recording is extremely good, in my view, but I can understand some people's reservations of the recording, but if you want the cellost sitting in front of you and playing just for you...
 
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