# Bach Cello Suites - Rostropovich or Yo-Yo Ma?



## WNvXXT (Nov 22, 2020)

Bach Cello Suites - Rostropovich or Yo-Yo Ma?


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Rostropovich is too romanticized for my tastes. I enjoy Ma's first two sets - haven't heard the 3rd.


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## Dan Ante (May 4, 2016)

From what I have heard I go for Rostropovich.


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## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

Rostropovich. He and Fournier are hard to beat.


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## Handelian (Nov 18, 2020)

Fournier for me.or Casals for history


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## premont (May 7, 2015)

Bulldog said:


> Rostropovich is too romanticized for my tastes. I enjoy Ma's first two sets - haven't heard the 3rd.


I agree with Don about Rostropovich, one of the few sets I have culled. Ma's first set is a good middle of the road performance. I haven't heard his second set, and I find his third set a bit contrieved, so Ma's first set for me choosing from these. But mentioned as an aside I wouldn't even put Ma's first set among my top 50.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Yo-Yo Ma's third set is the one I've heard this year, which is what decided my vote. I haven't listened to the Rosty set in decades, and try to keep up with new recordings, of which there are always several each year.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Rostropovich for me, that said I like others as much.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

A peculiar selection; there are so many others to possibly prefer ...


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

Rostropovich is not among my favorites - a bit thick and Teutonic for me - but at least he has a strong personality, which is much more important to me than Yo-Yo Ma’s bland, middle-of-the-road traversals.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Allegro Con Brio said:


> Rostropovich is not among my favorites - a bit thick and Teutonic for me - but at least he has a strong personality, which is much more important to me than Yo-Yo Ma's bland, middle-of-the-road traversals.


I don't find Yo-Yo Ma's recordings, from different periods of his life to be uniformly "bland, middle-of-the-road." His latest, the "six evolutions", is especially interesting, IMO, and unique among his versions. I think his first and this third are both better than his second - they are all different.

But it is pointless to argue about matters of taste.


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## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

Only Isserlis can perform Bach Cello Suites for me


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

My father is a hardcore Rostropovich fan, prefers Rosy for everything including the Beethoven triple concerto


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## AeolianStrains (Apr 4, 2018)

Judith said:


> Only Isserlis can perform Bach Cello Suites for me


Isserlis was my go-to until Queyras.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Casals. I'm not usually a fan of historical recordings, but I feel what he offered was really amazing. Plus the sound is really good for its time.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

If those are the only choices, I’ll take Ma’s third recording.

Lots of better choices, though.


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## BachIsBest (Feb 17, 2018)

AeolianStrains said:


> Isserlis was my go-to until Queyras.


Just listened to this recording. It's fantastic; thanks for the recommendation (and from a fellow Canadian)!


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## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

Judith said:


> Only Isserlis can perform Bach Cello Suites for me


Yeah, Isserlis is great, too. Using gut strings makes a world of difference. I wish sometimes that Rostropovich had used gut strings at least for the C and G. Those Thomastiks can be a bit much.


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## Knorf (Jan 16, 2020)

wkasimer said:


> If those are the only choices, I'll take Ma's third recording.
> 
> Lots of better choices, though.


Precisely my thinking.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

*Bach Cello Suites - Rostropovich or Yo-Yo Ma?*

I think the more serious question is, Can Rostropovich play a yo-yo?

Apparently he can.









It's made by Duncan, yes. I'm giving up the cello to practice for the championships.
It's all in the strings, but I'm good with strings. And fingerings.
But ... I'm sure you already know all this, Mr. Yo-Yo.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Seeing as it's a straight shoot-out, I've gone with Ma. His 3rd set is very well realised but as others have said, there are even better choices in these suites (eg. Queyras, Haimovitz, Wispelway, etc).


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