Customer Reviews

Bach: 6 Suites for Cello Solo / Matt Haimovitz

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

 

 

Matt Haimovitz's recording of the Bach cello suites is not for the traditionalist. Mr. Haimovitz scales the sacred Everest of the cello repertoire blazing an unfamiliar but distinctive trail to the mountaintop. His interpretation is filled with surprise from end to end. He never plays the repeat passages the same way twice, varying tempos and applying vibrato creatively yet thoughtfully, in way that grabs your attention and then neither lets it wander off nor affronts it.

Haimovitz's reading of the Bach suites may not have the transcendent quality of Yo-Yo Ma's 1997 recording on Sony, or aristocratic beauty of Pierre Fournier's 1961 recording on Polydor, or the technical wizardry of Pieter Wispelwey's 1998 baroque version on Channel Classics, but it's in a class alone for its willingness to take radical departures from the conventional boundaries of interpretation of this great work, including a pizzicato rendering of the repeat of the second minuet in Suite #2. None of the several dozens of editions of the Bach suites authorizes such an extreme break from convention for the right-hand, but since no scoring of the suites can be found in Bach's pen anyway, Haimovitz gets a pass based on artistic merit alone. He pulls it all off warmly, getting deep inside the music, and not compromising by trying to squeeze it all into the standard 2-disk format. The 65 minutes he gives to the last two suites is longer than any other version I've heard, a deeply introspective account of #5 and unusually deliberative reading of #6.

It's not uncommon these days to be confronted by in-your-face stylings of the great classics of string music, typically from string soloists who delight in breaking, smart-alecky, from custom. Mr. Haimovitz has managed in this beautifully recorded interpretation to find a fresh approach to a revered body of music that remains faithful to good taste.

A truly fine recording of some of the greatest music of all time. It is well recorded with a closely miked somewhat sonorous sound (recorded in a local church) which works for me every time on Cello recordings, though others may prefer a more clinical sound. I give it four stars only to allow for my deep affection for other recordings of these landmark pieces by other cellists such as Rostropovich, Fournier, Bylsma and Maisky. I am looking forward to hearing it live. Mr Haimovitz seems to be playing the Cello suites often in fairly unconventional settings (coffeehouses, rock clubs etc.)

The idea that the Bach cello suites should only be played on a baroque cello because this was the sound that Bach "supposedly" heard and was inspired by is not only ludicrous it is also a blind and ignorant opinion which has no basis in music history. Are you seriously telling me that the only way to hear Bach's early keyboard works is on a baroque harpsichord or organ, Mozart's horn concerti on a natural horn, Bach's orchestral works with baroque cornets and hunting horns? Have you ever actually listened to these instruments? Perhaps they contain some interest to antiquers looking for hisorical importance but certainly not to musicians looking for beautiful sounds and precise tuning. We have made advances in instrumental design in fields of material choices, tuning considerations, and accoustical manipulation and you are seriously telling me that none of these efforts are valid to the performance of music that came before them? Year after year we are subjected to recordings with horrible balance, disgusting tone, shoddy intonation and limited musicality, qualities which are supposed to be ignored, since the performance is on period instruments, an "authentic" reproduction. If we do not allow our modern efforts to aid in our instrumental design, and therefore bring new possibilities of beauty and precision to performances of new and old music then where are we to go from here? Are professional instrumentalists to own 12 different instruments to suit the nationality, time period and genre of the music they perform? There is a definite difference between preferring the sound of a baroque cello and characterizing more modern cellos as bastardizations of this design when performing music that came before them. Matt Haimovitz performs these suites with fantastic phrasing, intense emotional concentration, precise tuning and with some more modern performance liberties. To ignore these qualities because you are supposedly offended by the lack of "authenticity" of the instrument used means you are not a musician, rather, you are a bastardization of a musician. This is a fantastic recording that will become an important recording in the recorded legacy of these pieces.

This is perhaps the most original recording of Bach's notorious cello suites besides that of Pieter Wispelwey. Haimovitz completely disregards traditional approaches to the music, treating it truly as a vessel for his personal expression. This is the basis for my 1 star.

However, while I am in full support of and often enjoy original interpretations, Haimovitz pushes the limit. A musician must keep some sense of the original music in mind-- and Haimovitz is blind to this. These Bach suites are romanticized to the point of being embarrassing. The tempos are completely spontaneous, making listening difficult and uneasy. On top of this, the sound if his instrument is scratchy, lacking any depth or warmth, and intonation and bow control are anything but perfect.

Simply put, Haimovitz just tries too hard, and with no avail. I do not recommend this recording to anyone other than those simply looking to expand their collection of recordings of the suits. If you are looking for original, beautifully played work, look into Pieter Wispelwey's most recent recording.

Cellists seem to treat Bach's suites for solo cello with a depth of reverence that can render them rather bland. They figuratively kneel down and bow. They merely touch the hem of the garment. Haimovitz's approach is to attack the music in a much more practical way that seems to challenge Bach and this music to prove they are worthy of the pedestal they've been placed on. Where others I've heard stand back and gaze in awe and wonder, Haimovitz walks up to the icon, wraps it in a bear hug, pulls it down off the pedestal, tumbles to the floor and wrestles with it.

The effect is wondrous. You'll pay attention to this rendition.

why are you reviewers trying to disguise the fact that all this "modern" cellists ( yo-yo ma, rostropovitch, and so on) are doing a good job playing very heavy an too romantic cellos?...imagine tchaikowsky?s violin concerto performed on a baroque violin, with messa di voce,short stroke bowing, baroque ornaments and tempi!!!!.... so this guys are doing the other way around...all this performances were born dead...these works came alive on a particular sound and permormance fashion by bach?s genius, every thing that goes beyond this simple bases are lost.