Customer Reviews

Bach: The Six Sonatas & Partitas for Violin Solo [Hybrid SACD]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I kind of hate to rain on the parade of 5 star reviews, but in my opinion, this is just a good -- NOT notable -- version of Bach's sonatas and partitas.

I'm very familiar with releases of the complete sonatas and partitas by Itzhak Perlman, Nathan Milstein, and Henryk Szeryng. In my opinion, Szeryng's version (Label: Deutsche Grammophon ASIN: B000001GXY) is best, followed closely by Milstein (Label: Deutsche Grammophon ASIN: B000001H00). Perlman's is quite good, although I think his playing is a bit too "clean" and "Classical" for these Baroque works.

Additionally, on "Hilary Hahn Plays Bach" are the second and third partitas and the third sonata, and on "J.S. Bach: Violin Concertos; 3 Partitas" are Viktoria Mullova's version of the partitas. Hahn's version of Partita 2 is OK, though her tempo on the Ciaccona is way too slow. I like Mullova's partitas at least as much as Perlman's, because they're played beautifully, and her "take" on them is quite different from the others.

I would place St. John's version slightly below Hilary Hahn's, at the bottom of this list. St. John is unquestionably a gifted violinist, but her playing is flawed in places, she doesn't establish any sort of "mood", and this release doesn't compare well with Szeryng's and Milstein's versions of these works, which are simply phenomenal.

So please take all these 5 star reviews with a grain of salt. These performances are good, but there are many that are better.

UPDATE: Apparently, some folks haven't found this review helpful. In an effort to be more helpful, I'd like to provide the following: you can listen to this entire two CD set at Magnatune (www.magnatune.com) for free. Go there, listen to this thing, and then ask yourself if you really want to drop almost $30 on it. You might also want to listen to samples from the much better and less expensive releases I listed in my review. I did buy this set, and I consider it money badly spent. So listen, then decide.

"Baroque" does not mean strange dynamics and discontinuous phrasing. On top of this, Lara St. John seemed to be worried that we are not getting the point, and had the recording engineer manipulate the dynamic range to make it sound even more "Baroque". I thought she was suffering from incontinence when she was making this recording.

As a result, the recording was very uneven, and the phrasing sounded like she forgot to breathe. And the sound engineering was the final straw. Church reverberation will not make the music sound "thin" and "airy". Listen to Perlman's EMI recording, which is also recorded in a church, and you will immediately notice the difference.

The Bach Sonatas and Partitas still present a monumental challenge to even the most seasoned musician to this day. In St. John's playing, I think she has grossly underestimated the discipline and artistry that are required to perform and interpret these timeless pieces to a mere satisfactory level. She has trivialized a piece of art into kitsch, and I cannot recommend this recording to anyone.

This is a recording that you will either enjoy or detest. If you expect consistently beautiful tone and technical perfection, look elsewhere. But if you value expression, imagination, and spontaneity, this may be for you.

St. John's S&P recording is certainly heavily HIP-influenced; she uses gut strings, and plays with minimal vibrato. Tempi are brisk but not inflexible. She is not afraid to really "dig in" and occasionally produce a sound that some might call ugly, but it's all in the interest of expression and tonal variety. Those who are fussy about intonation, will find find plenty to complain about, although at least some of it is, I believe, intentional.

But her playing never fails to engage me; it always has a feeling of spontaneity and joie de vivre, and there's not a single moment of what can be called "bland note-spinning". She captures the mood of each movement beautifully, and phrases with real skill, with a wide tonal and dynamic palette. The recorded sound quality is superb.

I would never want to limit myself to a single version of the Sonatas and Partitas, and if I did, this would probably NOT be the one. But it is among the versions I pull off the shelf most often (along with Tetzlaff, Kremer, and Milstein's second version). The packaging, however, stinks; it's virtually impossible to remove the discs without damaging them. The photographs of the violinist are not particularly flattering, but in some way the seem appropriate for the style of playing - interesting and attractive, but a little short of makeup and a trifle disheveled.

I've been a big fan of Lara St. John's since her first CD, which I listened to obsessively for a very long time, to the point where I now can pretty much hear the entire CD in my head. When I saw her perform the Ciaccona from the 2nd Partita in recital back in 2004 or 2005, I thought she really rushed through it, and didn't play it with nearly the same depth of feeling as she did on her first CD, or as when I saw her in recital in 1998. At that 2nd recital I saw, she said something about her fingernail getting caught on a violin string and getting torn off (ouch!), so I thought maybe that was why she was playing the Ciaccona like she just wanted to get it over with - even though she didn't play everything on the program that way.

This CD reminds me of that recital. As far as the performances of the 2nd Partita and 3rd Sonata go, to my ears they just don't come close to matching the performances on her original CD. I can only guess at how much better this recording could have been if it had been recorded back in 1996. I haven't listened to her Concerto Album in a long time, so I can't comment on how the 1st Sonata compares (except to say I like that CD a lot too). This CD is worth getting in order to have a complete recording of the Sonatas and Partitas played by Lara, but those two pieces were disappointments.

(For reference, and since they used to get compared a lot (their respective first CDs were released around the same time), I'm not too fond of Hilary Hahn's first recording either - too slow (her track times are shorter compared to Lara because IIRC she didn't take the repeats), and somewhat lacking emotionally - although I do like her very much overall.)

Lara St. John is not afraid to be herself--what you get is a unique version of Bach's masterpieces by someone who has lived with them a long time and thought and felt deeply about them--and is not above having a lot of fun and pizzaz as well. She is a virtuoso with a heart and soul. I have several other performances--Hilary Hahn, Arthur Grumiaux, Nathan Milstein. This can stand among the best of our time and the great recorded past.

This is a technically brilliant and artistically moving performance of Bach's classic works for the solo violin. Listen to the sample of track 10 on Disc 2 or Track 12 on Disc 1 and you'll get a sense for what I mean.

I am not in position to compare Ms. St. John's interpretation of this oft recorded work with others on the market. However, I can say that she plays with a superior freshness, energy, and flair. Her love for these pieces shines through. I've had this recording for over six months and it remains one of my favorites.

As for the music itself, I was surprised at its depth and variation of tempos, harmonies, dynamics, and textures. Although written for a solo instrument, these partitas and sonatas are far beyond mere technical exercises or the predictable baroque machine gun of sixteenth notes in four or eight bar phrases. This music has fits and starts, bursts of energy and periods of contemplation, and chords and harmonies that range from pristine to anguished. In short, this is *great* music. If these pieces or this style is new to you, it might take a few listens, but rest assured you WILL become absorbed and fascinated by this beautiful music.

Hope this helps. Enjoy!

Lara St. John is a superb violinist and a great intrepreter of Bach. I've been listening to Hillary Hahn play the same pieces and she is wonderful, too. But Lara has more "oomph" and sounds less technically motivated than Hahn. I mean no disparagement to Hahn here. St. John has the capacity to infuse high emotion into some very technically challenging solo violin pieces by the master. Much like Yo Yo Ma opened up a new audience to Bach's Cello Concerto's, St. John is doing the same for the solo Violin masterpieces of Bach.

Master musicians first learn the technique perfecting it to a high degree of precision, especially when playing Bach then they add the emotion to it. This is exceedingly difficult and only the greatest players pull it off convincingly. To say that St. John's Bach Violin work is "sweet" or "rapturous" would be close to the truth but something of an understatement. Listening to this music is like enjoying a fine wine, just a little bit can take you to lovely, stunning places that only the great master JS Bach could create. Bach was a gift to the world just as great players are such as St. John.

The CD artwork shows an oceanside view with St. John standing on the shore, confidently holding her violin. It's as if she's preparing the listener for the great voyage with Bach to wherever the listener's mind is led by the music. Flawless and stunning, Ms. St. John is a superb Bach violinist.

The cd appears to be in good shape. I have not tried it, since it will be a gift, but I will get back if there are any problems. Delivery took one month, but that did not bother me.

The price was excellent. It was worth the wait to get a good price.

--Hugh

Although I regularly review my personal favourite violinists Julia Fischer's and Hilary Hahn's latest recordings (which I adore so much!), I must say that I am so impressed by and happy about the great musicality - besides all technical abilities these Bach works for Solo Violin bear - LARA ST. JOHN manages to express in this her latest recording. So I decided to write a review about her very great CD as well!

As a "collector" of Bach works for Solo Violin (and Goldberg Variations) I try to get as many recordings of Bach for Solo Violin (and of his Goldberg Variations) as I can get - so I lukily came to this one as well as to LARA ST. JOHN'S very first Bach recording for Solo Violin, and I find it truly even more expressive and more mature than her first recording of the same pieces (which I really like and recommend as well). This recording has therefore now become one of my few personal favourite recordings of Bach for Solo Violin. Very well-done LARA ST. JOHN!

In short, this recording bears everything in it: LARA ST. JOHN expresses with much intenlligence a deep warmth, intensity and power and reaches a superb level of musicality which makes this recording examplary for other violinists. Her phrasings are shaped with liveliness and much spirit and bring out a great level of inspiration and imagination.

Besides, I also really love the CD cover and booklet; this is really artistically designed (unlike so many other classical CD covers and booklets). For example, the dress she wears on the cover matches the colours of the letters of "Violin Solo" and her name (orange), which "connects" the main parts of this CD programme to a unit, and in the inside of the CD cover there is a red background and LARA wears a red dress - how matching! And one CD is coloured orange, the other one red. So, this CD is, as I think, a perfect example of how to produce a superb CD (cover/booklet) design! (Deutsche Grammophone and Pentatone - this is how it's done!) So, congratulations to the designer(s) of it!

In conclusion, it is a great experience and pleasure and a great delight listing to these two CDs of wonderful recordings of Bach's works for Solo Violin! Five stars for LARA ST. JOHN, actually even more stars..., same for the designer(s) of the CD cover and booklet!


Please also see LARA ST. JOHN'S first BACH Solo Violin recording:
Bach Works for Violin Solo

A superb rendition by Canada's most beautiful Violinist & Violin
Play the discs sit back and listen. My words could not describe the
sensation - You just have to buy it and listen.

It is certainly the best recording yet from Lara St John - with an
integrated informative 18 page booklet and some nice photo's of
Ms St John this 2 disc recording is a must for all lovers of Bach,
The Violin, Classical music & Ms St John.

The only negative I have is the 'GREEN' slip Card Packaging
CDs should be in plastic Jewel cases - end of story.
These 2 discs should actually be in a Titanium one - It is that good !