Customer Reviews

Bach: Cello Suites

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Paolo Beschi offers highly individual, engaging and rewarding performances of the cello suites on two baroque instruments. But beware: He is brilliantly captured by the engineers who manage to reveal every detail. If the artist's breathing or the sound of fingers on wood annoys you - look elsewhere.

This is not leisurely Bach or a recording for those who want background music. This performance demands your attention from the opening prelude to the final gigue. Beschi's prelude to the suite No1 is over a minute faster than Fournier's legendary recording. Whereas his sarabande from the sixth is far broader than Fournier.

For those who care about such things, the presentation, packaging and recording of these discs is amongst the finest I have ever come across.

At less than premium price, highly recommended.

After reading some strange opinions on the Internet about Paolo Beschi's performance of these suites, I was in doubt as to whether it was necessary to buy this set. I am SO happy I decided to take a plunge! I would have missed one of the best experiences of my life.

I firmly believe that Paolo Beschi is a genius. His performance is beyond praise. It is fresh, insightful and stunningly beautiful. Before you know it, the CD ends, and you are left with a sense of amazement and deep pleasure - and your hand is already putting the second CD into the player, or pressing the "play" button again.

By the way, I own 18 sets of Bach's cello suites, and I have heard a thing or two in this area.

Grab it while you can and don't think twice about it!

The W&W package is beautiful, but not very practical, in my humble opinion. The CDs are tricky to put in and take out, the number of scratches on them grows, and the CDs don't hold well. Be sure that your hands are clean when you handle the package - it soils very easily, and it is not a pleasant sensation to see a stain on this gorgeous dark-red box... I decided eventually to put the CDs in separate plastic boxes.

Well, that's all. Enjoy !

This is the most exciting and original period instrument performance of these suites I've ever heard and I have several other period instrument performances of them. Extremely enjoyable and a lot of fun. I like the extra "percussive" effects you hear of his fingers banging against the wood on his instrument. You can tell he's having as much fun as the listener.

I have heard a couple of different recordings of Bach's cello suites and found all of them to be beautiful, but nothing like this. This is how music should always be recorded, simple yet intimate, simple yet complex. I have never heard a bow run across strings like this and never have I heard a recording where the sound of finger movements was captured; Beschi's cello is as alive as he is in the later suites. This is simply the most gorgeous recording of one of the most beautiful pieces of all time.

Beschi is a genius. I have far more than a dozen of the Bach Cello Suites and this one by Beschi is near the very top of the echelon. I would not compare him with any other performer as he has put his own stamp on these pieces - he is quick, nimble, sharp, articulate and always lively. He holds your attention! I highly recommend him as a preferred and refreshing change of pace when you tire of your regular Bach cello favorites.

"When I listen to this particular recording, I feel as if the music is my air." Not that there is anything special about it, it just feels as if it were meant for me. "And that's the way that music should be."