Bach: The Cello Suites [IMPORT]

Steven Isserlis (Performer), Johann Sebastian Bach (Composer), Catalan Traditional (Composer)

Product Details

• Performer: Steven Isserlis
• Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach, Catalan Traditional
• Audio CD (June 12, 2007)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Import
• Label: Hyperion UK
• ASIN: B000OQDV1U
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #51,410 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
The Bach Cello Suites must have been recorded by virtually every great cellist past and present, beginning with Pablo Casals. This new recording by Steven Isserlis must rank among the best, technically and musically. His approach to the Suites is based on a careful analysis of the sources, a study of historical and recent research, and his own instinctive feeling. He explains all this in scholarly liner notes leavened with humor and personal comments. Isserlis describes the Suites as a succession of dances introduced by Preludes to set their mood and tonality. He feels, though, that Bach greatly transcended their dance character, especially in the Sarabandes which, through their depth and expressiveness, form the core of the Suites. Moreover, contemporary scholarship and the Suites' cumulative structural complexity and emotional intensity lead him to believe that, like the violin Sonatas and Partitas, they are connected to specific Church festivals celebrating certain aspects of the Passion story. He especially points to the tragic, oppressive character of No. 5 (the Crucifixion) and the triumphant radiance of No. 6 (the Resurrection), conceived for a five-stringed instrument.

The remarkable thing is that Isserlis brings all this out in his playing. His tone, with sparing vibrato, is warm and austere, dark in the two sorrowful minor-mode Suites, bright in the others. His phrasing is as natural as speech; with perfectly controlled rhythm, the dances really dance. Voices stand out like threads in a tapestry. Bach's own manuscript having been lost, Isserlis adds three versions of the first Prelude taken from the earliest copies, and honors Casals with "The Song of the Birds," a Catalan folksong closely associated with him. Lovers of Bach and great cello playing must not miss this recording. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GROWING UP, September 16, 2007

By	GEORGE RANNIE "GWRJWMCL" (DENVER, COLORADO United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

It was not until I reached some maturity that I fell in love with Johann Sebastian Bach's Cello Suites. Prior to that time, I really couldn't see why they were considered so very great. Well into my adulthood, I fell completely in love with the works considering them as some of my favorite compositions. Similarity, Steven Isserlis did not record these works until he had done an enormous amount of study along with the acquisition of some gray hair. The result of the aforesaid has yielded a gorgeous recording of the Cello Suites on this two disc Hyperion recording. Steven plays these works most beautifully with nary a harsh tone. The fast dances are played very rhythmically sounding for once as if one could "twirl the floor to them". Most of all, the sound he produces is very lovely. I've never heard the works played as consistently beautiful as Steven Isserlis plays them in this recording. As expected the recorded sound is lovely too.

Do read the very extensive and educational notes in the recording sleeve by Steven Isserlis--they are marvelously informative!

(The last two suites on the second disc are particularly lovely. They find Bach at his mature best and Isserlis at his greatest playing with supreme technique and beautiful tone)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A magnificent recording, February 24, 2009

By	Sid Nuncius "Sid Nuncius" (London England) - See all my reviews

I have loved the Bach Cello Suites ever since I was an almost talent-free teenage cellist getting on for 40 years ago, and in that time I have heard (and often bought) wonderful recordings by some of the world's very greatest cellists including Casals, Tortelier, Fournier and Yo-Yo Ma. Isserlis's recording stands with the very best of them. He is a magnificent musician and has thought and studied for years before tackling the Bach Suites. This shows in his delightful involvement in the music, the way the dances really dance when they should and how the very soul of the music and of Bach shines through what he does. Joy, sorrow, beauty and passion are all beautifully evoked, and it's all exactly appropriate - no flashy tricks or dodgy imposition of things which aren't really there. There is just a deep understanding and love of Bach's music. The whole thing is a monumental pleasure.

The accompanying notes are extremely interesting. They show both the depth of Isserlis's scholarship and his thoughtfulness about the Suites. I particularly like the section headed "A personal feeling (definitely not a theory!)" in which he suggests that the suites may be seen as akin to Mystery Sonatas - an interesting and thought-provoking viewpoint, which never interferes with the music itself.

The recording quality is excellent. It is miked very close, giving an intimate feel - so intimate that you can hear the slap of Isserlis's fingers in the livelier parts. I love the sense this gives of his being in the room with you, and the sound of his cello is simply lovely throughout.

In the face of the greatness of some of the recordings which have preceded this one, I couldn't say this was definitive, nor even that it was my absolute favourite. But then I couldn't say that of any of the others either. I do know that if I had to choose just one recording to live with, this would be a very strong contender. Very highly recommended indeed.

17 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Yes but . . ., February 11, 2008

By	Richard P. Glasser (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Yes, the playing is beautiful. Yes, the dances have a rhythmic spring. Yes, Isserlis understands the arc of the melody. But I am reminded of how a non-English conductor instructed an English orchestra on rehearsing a Mahler symphony: "Forget that you are gentlemen." Well, Isserlis does not forget that he is a gentleman. Granted Bach isn't Mahler, but there is room for a lot more gutsiness and passion than we get here. Emotionally these performances are on the cool and tepid side. Everything is very genteel, very proper. I want this music to grab me by the lapels, and these performances don't do that. Without being self-indulgent, many others do: Casals, Mork, Wispelwey I, Haimowitz, Ma I, Kirschbaum and Starker to name a few. If you want more committed performances with the same beauty and elegance as these, Fournier is your man.