# Bach-Sonatas and Partitas



## Kjetil Heggelund

Everybody plays them! Even guitarists (me)...So...did you ever study different recordings and find a favorite or are you still wondering? Some time ago I did a serious comparison on different versions of bwv 1002 (spotify to help) and my winner was...Ingrid Matthews...ever heard of her? I liked the flow in her playing and the tempos felt natural for me.


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## Taplow

She doesn't have the cleanest technique, or the sweetest sound, but there is feeling there. One thing I like about her is that she takes things at a reasonable pace. I have the Heifetz, Rachel Podger and Itzhak Perlman, and while I like them all, Perlman has a tendency to rush, and Heifetz, while virtuosic, lacks some feeling. Podger has technique, tone, and feeling.

I would really like to hear Vadim Repin tackle these works.


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## Bulldog

I've had Ingrid Matthews set a few years, and it still gets ample playing time. I love her sound and emotional breadth.


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## bharbeke

Of the BWV 1001-1006 group, I have heard and enjoyed Perlman on Violin Sonata No. 1, Hilary Hahn on Violin Partita No. 2, and Christian Tetzlaff on Violin Partita No. 3. I am still very new to the majority of Bach's works, so I appreciate hearing the recommendations and especially the detailed reasoning like Taplow gives.


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## vsm

Not bad Ingrid Matthews' recording... thanks for suggesting it. My favorite though is still Itzak Perlman's EMI Classics recording, a little dated but just perfect 

https://www.amazon.com/Bach-Sonatas-Partitas-Itzhak-Perlman/dp/B00708K604


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## Guest

I like Nathan Milstein's DG set. Others include Arthur Grumiaux and Gidon Kremer's newer one.


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## senza sordino

I only own one CD of the sonatas and partitas. Arthur Grumiaux, recordings from the early sixties. It's a terrific recording. So much clarity and control, with a tiny amount of reverb making it sound quite big. I've heard other recordings. Rachel Barton Pine is a terrific recording too. I'm not interested in owning multiple copies. 

I've muddled my way through playing the entire E major Partita. The Prelude is the best part. The rapid string crossings to give the impression of two violins playing is masterful. The Loure is a challenge. The double stops are difficult in E major. I have a tough time making it sound like music as I lose the thread, the musical line gets lost when I play it. The Gavotte and Rondeau is a lovely dance, I try to make it bouncy. The second minuet has that wonderful drone effect. The gigue was the first piece of Bach I learned.

I've played the Dm partita minus the Chaconne. To play the Chaconne is an ambition of mine. Perhaps one day. I heard a busker play the Chaconne by memory in Florence underneath the outdoor copy of Michaelangelo's David. One of my most magical musical moments of my life. I played the Allemande in a masterclass a couple of years ago. I played it poorly for me because I get very nervous performing, but I did learn some better bowing from the instructor. 

And I've played the Presto from the first Sonata and the Allegro assai from the third Sonata. 

I heard James Ehnes play as an encore the Andante from the second Sonata. It was lovely, terrific tone. After hearing him, it makes me want to learn it, but it's a tricky set of double stops. The bow has to gently touch one string while the second string is continuously bowed.


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## senza sordino

Reading this thread a few days ago prompted me to learn a new piece from the set. I just started to learn the Allegro from the second Sonata, the Am Allegro. I like the echo effect in this piece. Each phrase is played once loudly and repeated softly giving it an echo effect. It sounds great when played properly. The piece isn't too difficult for me, it's getting the dynamics right that'll be my big challenge for this piece.


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## arnerich

senza sordino said:


> Reading this thread a few days ago prompted me to learn a new piece from the set. I just started to learn the Allegro from the second Sonata, the Am Allegro. I like the echo effect in this piece. Each phrase is played once loudly and repeated softly giving it an echo effect. It sounds great when played properly. The piece isn't too difficult for me, it's getting the dynamics right that'll be my big challenge for this piece.


I just completed a piano transcription of that movement! Hopefully I'll make a live recording soon, it's really difficult to play though ;P


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## tdc

I really like that Allegro from BWV 1003 too, it also works very nicely on the guitar. :guitar:


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## vsm

tdc said:


> I really like that Allegro from BWV 1003 too, it also works very nicely on the guitar. :guitar:


That's interesting tdc... do you play it as it is, or do you make any modification from the original for violin? I am really curious to know that... thanks for bringing this up!


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## tdc

vsm said:


> That's interesting tdc... do you play it as it is, or do you make any modification from the original for violin? I am really curious to know that... thanks for bringing this up!


You're welcome, some guitarists choose to play the work as it is notated for violin (which works fine for this piece), I used a guitar transcription by Carlos Barbosa-Lima, and then altered some parts by ear to match what I heard on this other guitar version by Fabio Zanon.


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## vsm

tdc said:


> You're welcome, some guitarists choose to play the work as it is notated for violin (which works fine for this piece), I used a guitar transcription by Carlos Barbosa-Lima, and then altered some parts by ear to match what I heard on this other guitar version by Fabio Zanon.


Thanks for letting me know about that. I'll check that transcription out. Appreciated!


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## andreas chenier

the different recordings of bach sonatas and partitas for solo violin has their own attributes and their special particularities. there are for exapmle numerlous transcriptions like; pepe romero, bach-busoni, bach-brahms etc. Of the transcirptions i cant pick a favourite, this is because they all emphasise different parts of the original work and do not recite the OG bach to the fullest (for the record i have cried and felst immense joy in all of these transriptions (especially pepe romero playing, evgeny kissin and daanil triofinv playing). when it comes to violin recordings, where do i start?!?! i first heard the hillary hahn recording, this is an amazing recording to start with, it is simply terrific. after many years of a long relationship with bach (as i imagine you all have) i think the henryk szeryng is a solid recording, and solid is a key word here for me. I could not go on about this piece without mentioning menhuins recording which is bold and coragious. Menhuin is an extremely talented violinist who performs bach in an original way without compromising anything (truly amazing). I could go on and talk about heifitz, perlman, grimaux, but my favourite is Nathan Milstein. Milstein combinates the perfection in which bach is needed and the boldness in which it takes to preform this overwhelming, (and i would say) perfectly composed piece of music. truly one of the greats.
I hope you all would listen to the other recordings i recommeneded,


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## Pugg

andreas chenier said:


> the different recordings of bach sonatas and partitas for solo violin has their own attributes and their special particularities. there are for example numerous transcriptions like; pepe romero, bach-busoni, bach-brahms etc. Of the transcriptions i cant pick a favourite, this is because they all emphasise different parts of the original work and do not recite the OG Bach to the fullest (for the record i have cried and felts immense joy in all of these transcriptions (especially pepe romero playing, evgeny kissin and daanil triofinv playing). when it comes to violin recordings, where do i start?!?! i first heard the hillary hahn recording, this is an amazing recording to start with, it is simply terrific. after many years of a long relationship with bach (as i imagine you all have) i think the henryk szeryng is a solid recording, and solid is a key word here for me. I could not go on about this piece without mentioning menhuins recording which is bold and courageous. Menhuin is an extremely talented violinist who performs bach in an original way without compromising anything (truly amazing). I could go on and talk about heifitz, perlman, grimaux, but my favourite is Nathan Milstein. Milstein combinates the perfection in which Bach is needed and the boldness in which it takes to preform this overwhelming, (and i would say) perfectly composed piece of music. truly one of the greats.
> I hope you all would listen to the other recordings i recommended,


Great first post, welcome to Talk Classical.


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## realdealblues

Grumiaux, Perlman & Milstein are probably my favorites and probably in that order.


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## Manxfeeder

andreas chenier said:


> I could go on and talk about heifitz, perlman, grimaux, but my favourite is Nathan Milstein. Milstein combinates the perfection in which bach is needed and the boldness in which it takes to preform this overwhelming, (and i would say) perfectly composed piece of music. truly one of the greats.
> I hope you all would listen to the other recordings i recommeneded,


Thanks for the list. I heard Milstein first, and I've gotten so attached to it, I haven't seen the need to explore further. Maybe I can branch out.


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## wkasimer

andreas chenier said:


> but my favourite is Nathan Milstein.


Which recording, the earlier EMI or the later DG? They're both among my favorites, as are both of Kremer's, and all three of Tetzlaff's.


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## Guest

These are my choices,Accardo is very fine,my favorite is Sigiswald Kuijken.














v


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## Marc

I personally like Henryk Szeryng (DG), Ingrid Matthews (Centaur) and François Fernandez (Flora) very much, but it's a difficult choice, because there are many good and interesting recordings to choose from.


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## Kjetil Heggelund

Nice replies people! I have Szeryng and Grumiaux on CD (and prefer Szeryng). It's a long time since I listened to them since these days I like to hear the latest recordings with known and unknown performers.


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## ClassicalMaestro

I love the BWV 1001 Fugue on Guitar


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## Josquin13

If I had to pick just one recording of Bach's Sonatas & Partitas played on a modern strings, I'd choose Uto Ughi's RCA set, without much hesitation. Ughi has been one of the finest violinists I've heard over the past 4 decades or so, though surprisingly, he seems to fly a bit under the radar. Ughi's teacher, George Enescu played these works exceptionally well too (though the sound quality of his set is 'historical').

Other favorites have included violinist Josef Suk on EMI, Nathan Milstein's DG set (which I prefer to his EMI recordings), Oleg Kagan on Erato & Live Classics, and Salvatore Accardo. Jean-Jacques Kantorow can be interesting too, but I don't prefer his Denon set to those mentioned above. (By the way, Kantorow was one of Glenn Gould's favorite violinists.) I've yet to get to any of Christian Tetzlaff's several recordings, but hope to hear his latest set, at some point.

Tracking down Ughi's recording can be tricky these days, at least at a reasonable price (if interested, you might try Amazon Italy):

https://www.amazon.com/Bach-Sonatas...&qid=1516470580&sr=1-1&keywords=uto+ughi+bach
https://www.amazon.com/Bach-Sonate-...rd_wg=eWYOi&psc=1&refRID=WBS5YS3X0XXM25RYV16C
https://www.amazon.com/Bach-Sonaten...6470580&sr=1-2-catcorr&keywords=uto+ughi+bach
https://www.amazon.com/Uto-Ughi-Col...=UTF8&qid=1516470798&sr=1-9&keywords=uto+ughi

http://www.utoughi.com/

https://www.amazon.com/Bach-Violin-...qid=1516471184&sr=1-1&keywords=Josef+Suk+bach

https://www.amazon.com/Bach-Sonatas...&qid=1516473021&sr=1-1&keywords=Milstein+bach

https://www.amazon.com/Sonatas-Part...id=1516471063&sr=1-1&keywords=oleg+kagan+bach (The sound quality on the Erato set is preferable to the Apex 'discount' reissue, which I found grating.)

https://www.amazon.com/Partitas-Sol...id=1516471063&sr=1-6&keywords=oleg+kagan+bach

Among those I don't overly care for, I find Gidon Kremer to be too jarring and individualistic, even quirky, interpretatively--on both Phillips & ECM. Although, oddly enough, I've liked him very much in the violin concertos, especially in the Double Concerto, with violinist Tatiana Grindenko (an old Eurodisc recording). As for Heifetz, I find him too cold--not my cup of tea. In comparison, Menuhin has greater warmth.

If I were pressed to pick just one recording on a period instrument, I'd choose Stanley Ritchie on Musica Omnia: partly because, for me, it makes such a huge difference to hear this music played on a Jacob Stainer, 1670 violin, which is a violin that Bach himself played, and because Ritchie has performed and taught this music over the course of a lifetime & I found his interpretations unusually insightful & deep. (By the way, Ritchie was Ingrid Matthews' teacher.)

https://www.amazon.com/Bach-Sonatas...16471392&sr=1-1&keywords=stanley+ritchie+bach

https://www.amazon.com/Accompanimen...rd_wg=anNuh&psc=1&refRID=QZ3GM0E4PEE7AXWQ4TC0

My other favorite period set comes from Hélène Schmitt on Alpha, whose playing I find soulful and flexible, rhythmically, which I enjoy on occasion (in contrast to others). (Amandine Beyer's set can be interesting too.)

https://www.amazon.com/Bach-Sonatas...516471988&sr=1-2&keywords=Helene+Schmitt+bach
https://www.amazon.com/Bach-Sonatas...516471988&sr=1-4&keywords=Helene+Schmitt+bach

I've yet to get to John Holloway's ECM set, but hope to--along with sets by François Fernandez, & Enrico Onofri. Plus, I'm hoping that Pablo Valetti and/or Emyln Ngai will record this music at some point, as I think very highly of both violinists' sets of Bach Violin Sonatas (with harpsichordists Celine Frisch and Peter Watchorn, respectively). I also might be interested to hear Enrico Gatti or Enrico Casazza play the Sonatas & Partitas, as well.


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## Nate Miller

ClassicalMaestro said:


> I love the BWV 1001 Fugue on Guitar


BWV 1001 is from the Lute works, isn't it? There are also versions of the fugue for keyboard and doesn't it also appear in G minor for violin?

The keyboard version is a 5 voice fugue and has a couple extra bars

I've been fooling around with this one lately. I've never performed it, but I want to work with it when I get time later this year.


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## Marc

Josquin13 said:


> If I had to pick just one recording of Bach's Sonatas & Partitas played on a modern strings, I'd choose Uto Ughi's RCA set, without much hesitation. Ughi has been one of the finest violinists I've heard over the past 4 decades or so, though surprisingly, he seems to fly a bit under the radar. [...]


Good choice, I almost completely forgot about him... have to fix my radar, too.


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## JSBach85

Josquin13 said:


> If I were pressed to pick just one recording on a period instrument, I'd choose Stanley Ritchie on Musica Omnia: partly because, for me, it makes such a huge difference to hear this music played on a Jacob Stainer, 1670 violin, which is a violin that Bach himself played, and because Ritchie has performed and taught this music over the course of a lifetime & I found his interpretations unusually insightful & deep. (By the way, Ritchie was Ingrid Matthews' teacher.)
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/Bach-Sonatas...16471392&sr=1-1&keywords=stanley+ritchie+bach
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/Accompanimen...rd_wg=anNuh&psc=1&refRID=QZ3GM0E4PEE7AXWQ4TC0
> 
> My other favorite period set comes from Hélène Schmitt on Alpha, whose playing I find soulful and flexible, rhythmically, which I enjoy on occasion (in contrast to others). (Amandine Beyer's set can be interesting too.)
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/Bach-Sonatas...516471988&sr=1-2&keywords=Helene+Schmitt+bach
> https://www.amazon.com/Bach-Sonatas...516471988&sr=1-4&keywords=Helene+Schmitt+bach
> 
> I've yet to get to John Holloway's ECM set, but hope to--along with sets by François Fernandez, & Enrico Onofri. Plus, I'm hoping that Pablo Valetti and/or Emyln Ngai will record this music at some point, as I think very highly of both violinists' sets of Bach Violin Sonatas (with harpsichordists Celine Frisch and Peter Watchorn, respectively). I also might be interested to hear Enrico Gatti or Enrico Casazza play the Sonatas & Partitas, as well.


I've probably never known anybody reviewing so many recordings at once... Unfortunately I do not own so many recordings, how I envy you! But I realized that there are many brilliant performers of Bach Sonatas & Partitas for Violin solo on period instruments, I only own two recordings: Mullova and Kuijken, both mentioned above by Traverso. Holloway... is probably my favourite violin performer since I purchased and listened his Biber Rosary Sonatas, unfortunately I am unable to get his recording of Bach Sonatas & Partitas for violin. Interesting and I didn't know about Bach's Onofri, a notable musician of Vivaldi chamber works. Regarding Hélène Schmitt... I discovered this great violinist with her recording of Matteis, I will never forget this moment... greatest performer of Matteis ever! If her Bach's recording of Sonatas & Partitas holds the same level, I will purchased it blindly.


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## Triplets

realdealblues said:


> Grumiaux, Perlman & Milstein are probably my favorites and probably in that order.


Very good choices. I also like the set by Sergiu Luca issued about 100 years ago on Nonesuch.


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## EvaBaron

So it seems Milstein on DG is a first choice, but for some reason I gravitate towards Perlman. He plays them very romantically and for some reason that would be a downside but his interpretation is just so beautiful that I can’t help but listen to them. Normally I don’t ever listen to perlman but this he really nails


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## Enthalpy

Why such old violinists, despite the instrument progressed a lot recently?

Clean technique from James Ehnes C1h6cnddQ74
and from Ilya Kaler PLs2vq238vU6nPIvdczN0uaBDtUSrrTnG5
Perfect good taste from Antal Zalai antalzalai
My preferred Ciaconna by Julia Fischer WZ0wkyRBlqo
Passionate and fascionating Ciaconna by Nemanja Radulovic MS1ATruO7f4
I didn't find the sonatas and partitas by Enrico Palascino, alas.

On the guitar, by Petra Polácková, for me a revelation: lxZqC_J0C74


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## Nate Miller

I've played the G major cello suite for years. I've played three different transcriptions, played it in G,C, and D.

The Duarte transcription in D is my favorite setting on guitar for teh prelude, but the Yeats transcription in C is the best for the other dances, so its a tough call. Presently I play my own transcription in D that is very close to Bach's original.

I have listened extensively to John Williams, Manuel Barrueco and Julian Bream on guitar, but also Yo-Yo Ma and Pablo Casals on cello.

Casals playing of the gigue is unique

after all that over the years, these days, I just play the thing. A little bit from everybody is in that suite now. In the gigue when I take the repeats I'll even swing it hard like Casals did sometimes


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