Customer Reviews

Bach: Six Suites; Sonatas in G major & D major

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

 

 

Janos Starker has recorded the Bach cello suites five times, and when asked why he has made so many, he said it was because each time he signed with a new record company, they wanted him to do another set(!) His honest, no-nonsense personality shows through in his Bach performances as well. Some claim his approach is too dry and unemotional, but after many years of listening to and playing these suites, his clarity and sense of structure keep me engaged long after I've grown tired of more visceral, "romantic" approaches. Many say this is his best set, but if you chose it, avoid at all costs the CD for sale here and buy the hybrid SACD/CD released in 2004, also available on amazon.com, even though it costs more. The reviewers below (and others) have found this CD to have been recorded a full tone sharp (ugh!). I don't know about that since I don't have it, but the 2004 SACD/CD sounds right on pitch to me.

These performances of the Bach Suites were wonderful on LP. Unfortunately, whoever was in charge of making the transfer of these recordings on to CD botched horribly and made the entire set sound a half step sharp. For those of us who have listened to and played these works for years, hearing this (eg. Suite No. 1 in G-sharp major!) is most disconcerting.

I was so shocked when I first put the CD on I had to run to a friend's house, who still had the LPs, just to see if I had somehow remembered the original sound wrong. No, the LPs were fine, Suite No. 1 is in G major and so on.

Starker's new set, on RCA, is wonderful, so perhaps it doesn't matter, but it is still distressing to hear this happen. Why? Why? Why?

The reviewer below expresses it best. Starker's Mercury set of the suites is, for most cellists, the gold standard. Technically speaking, they are flawless. Artistically speaking there is laser-beam musical understanding that arcs the entire recording. The later RCA recording is even deeper in understanding, but Starker's Bach is akin to Gould's in this regard: you want both the earlier and the later -- they are both that great.

What a shame then that shoddy remastering has put these disks into the realm of the unlistenable. Anyone who is intimate with these pieces will notice immediately (as the prior reviewer did) that they are sharp. It is so distracting that I cannot bear to put the disk in the player. A next to criminal moment in the rush to cash in on the LP to CD bonanza!

Performance: 5+ Stars; remastering: 0 Stars.

OK. So I'm no musician, but for my money this is superb, beautifully played and emotionally expressive.

I am quite alarmed by the reaction of some of the other reviewers here. The sound quality really is not as bad as all that (in fact it's pretty clear compared to most) and Bach's suites are brought to life in a way that I have not heard before.

Where other lesser musicians make these sound like a cold, academic exercise, Starker invests just the right amount of feeling to make this a truly emotional and rewarding experience.

Have a listen and find out for yourself. I'm sure many will disagree with me - they're just wrong!

I am a non-musician, but a huge fan of both Starker and Bach. I own almost every version of the cello suites on the market and this version is by far my favorite. I find it soulful, unpretentious, well-tempered, and almost at the edge of the impossible in its virtuosity. When Starker plays Bach, there seems to be a magical synergy of souls. I find both Rostropovich's and Yo-Yo Ma's interpretation to be too fast and a bit cool. (But again, this isn't my expertise, just a frank visceral reaction to the sound.)

Brilliantly played and deeply expressive, this is one of my most treasured recordings. I agree that the CD sound is not as engaging as the LP, but this nevertheless remains a stunning and irreplacable recording of this great music. I wouldn't trade this for all the other recordings put together.

My hat goes off to Joanos Starker whose attempt at Bach is a success. Unlike so many artists today who try to race through everything to demonstrate their technical prowess, Starker takes his time when necessary and does justice to how the music should be played.
He has focus, depth, and grace. Starker's focus appears to be on the music alone, and not on impressing the audience.

The recordings of these classics by Casals (the Naxos remastering of the same recordings is much better than EMI Great Recordings), Fornier (DG and EMI Icon are different recordings but both are very good), Isserlis (2007 recordings and perhaps the best of all), and Bylsma (played on a 1701 "Servais" Stradivarius Violoncello on loan from the Smithsonian with a wonderful melo sound) are much better.

It does sound a half-step sharp. I consider Starker, Rostropovich and Colin Carr as the very best modern cellists. This careless remastering implemented in naturally flawed CD format (same applies to DVD's BluRay's etc) is a terrible shame for such wonderful music.

Check out "Bach: Suites for Solo Cello "Bach: Suites for Solo Cello. Both the recording and performance is better

Enjoy The Music

Various reviews claim this recording is either on pitch, a half tone sharp, or a full tone sharp. Here's another data point. My copy is a just a tad sharp, using my piano to compare, but not even a quarter tone. Just a little sharp. Other CDs that I have checked are on the money with my player, so I believe my copy really is sharp. It shouldn't be sharp at all, but I don't have perfect pitch and I'm not trying to play along, so this is nothing to diminish my enjoyment of these recordings. I got the original LP release of this set as a present from my father when I was in high school in the 60s, and I've treasured it ever since. But it is sure nice to hear without the clicks and pops, even if it is a tad sharp.