Bach: 6 Suites for Cello, BWV 1007-1012

Johann Sebastian Bach (Composer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
• Audio CD (February 9, 1993)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000027TV
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #153,359 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shoppers note, February 26, 2000

By 

David W. Ross (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bach: 6 Suites for Cello, BWV 1007-1012 (Audio CD)

Shoppers should note that Anner Bylsma has recorded the Bach Suites twice. The 2 volume set Sony #48047 was recorded in 1992, while Sony #61811 and #61812 are reissues of a 1979 recording. Both are outstanding. The later set, which I own, was recorded on a very large instrument, the "Stradivarius Servais," in a very resonant recording. Some critics prefer the performance on the earlier set, which has a rather dry sound. I have been waiting for it to be reissued so that I can obtain Volume 2.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for Bach cello suite fans, January 12, 2000

By 

John Harrington (anywhere, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bach: 6 Suites for Cello, BWV 1007-1012 (Audio CD)

To those of you who are chary of "historically informed" interpretations, you needn't be in this case. Though presumably Bylsma's approach is scholarly and "correct", there is nothing objective about his interpretation. It is sinewy, chocolately, dramatic, as winning and hearfelt an interpretation as any of the great performances on the modern cello by Cassals, Fournier, Rostropovich et al.

Bylsma uses an actual period cello, not a reproduction, but manages to bring it alive and to coax out of it the sweetest sounds. Bylsma's tempi are faster than those familiar with modern interpretations might be prepared for, but his musicianship is so keen that the most precise phrasing remains intact and Bach's music never ends up sounding forced or rushed.

Do your best to judge from the samples above, but I urge you to take a risk with this.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As a baroque cello student..., October 28, 2004

By 

Alexandra Roedder "expert in training" (between here and there) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bach: 6 Suites for Cello, BWV 1007-1012 (Audio CD)

As a student of baroque cello, studying under one of Bylsma's own students, I find these recordings inspiring. They are always fresh and interesting, with new information to be found. His version here is simply one of the many ways of playing the pieces, and I think that, compared with the Rostropovich, Casals, and Ma recordings (which I also own), his is the only one that shows their flexibility. Using a baroque bow and tuning down to A=415 helps, of course, as does using gut strings and studying the patterns of baroque dance.

I met Mr Bylsma recently at a masterclass at my conservatory, and I found him intelligent, insightful, and passionate. These recordings show those exact qualities.

I love the tone of both instruments, and I love the way he makes the pieces speak, perhaps even with the same rhetorical ideas that J.S. Bach himself would have been considering. Rhetoric was a huge part of composition in the 17th and 18th centuries; none of the "modern" recordings, done on "normal" cellos, do this relationship quite as much justice as Mr Bylsma.