Bach: The Six Sonatas & Partitas for Violin Solo

Lara St. John | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Performers: Bach, Johann Sebastian
• Composers: Bach, Johann Sebastian
• Original Release Date: November 30, 2006
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Ancalagon LLC
• Copyright: 2007 Ancalagon LLC
• Total Length: 2:06:10
• Genres: Classical/Chamber Music, Classical/Historical Periods/Baroque (c.1600-1750), Classical/Historical Periods/Classical (c.1770-1830)
• ASIN: B000X2X6Y2
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #64,909 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Realism please, October 10, 2008

By 

Nycademon (Denver, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bach: The Six Sonatas & Partitas for Violin Solo [Hybrid SACD] (Audio CD)

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.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Kitsch, June 17, 2009

By 

Eduardo Antico "..." (...) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bach: The Six Sonatas & Partitas for Violin Solo [Hybrid SACD] (Audio CD)

"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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not for the squeamish..., February 10, 2011

By 

William Kasimer (Eastern Massachusetts) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bach: The Six Sonatas & Partitas for Violin Solo [Hybrid SACD] (Audio CD)

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.