# Bach Cello Suites



## timothyjuddviolin (Nov 1, 2011)

Enjoy performances of this amazing music by Yo-Yo Ma and Rostropovich. Let me know if there are any other recordings you really like and why you think they're great.


----------



## Bas (Jul 24, 2012)

I am a great fan of the rendition by Bruno Cocset, on Alpha


----------



## shangoyal (Sep 22, 2013)

I really like Mischa Maisky, don't know why exactly, but probably because he goes slower than Rostropovich. Rostropovich is a big name, but frankly I don't like his renditions.


----------



## Celloman (Sep 30, 2006)

If you're willing to put up with the hiss and scratch, you can't go wrong with the Great Man himself:


----------



## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

timothyjuddviolin said:


> Enjoy performances of this amazing music by Yo-Yo Ma and Rostropovich. Let me know if there are any other recordings you really like and why you think they're great.


I've never heard Ma. If you like Rostropovich be sure to try his first record of these suites, much better than the later one IMO.

Guido Schiefen, Paolo Beschi and Angela East are very good IMO. There are others.


----------



## scratchgolf (Nov 15, 2013)

I have a Jörg Baumann collection. I purchased it initially for the friendly price tag but I'm quite pleased with it. It's a very safe recording but I'm not a huge fan of risk takers.


----------



## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Mandryka said:


> I've never heard Ma. If you like Rostropovich be sure to try his first record of these suites, much better than the later one IMO.
> 
> Guido Schiefen, Paolo Beschi and Angela East are very good IMO. There are others.
> 
> ...


I agree with you about Beschi and East, but I can't figure how you could add Schiefen to that list. I find his accounts coarse, vulgar and entirely overbearing. I reviewed it a few years ago and looked back at what I wrote - "I'd feel bad even donating it to the local library". On the other hand, what was a bad purchase for me is evidently a worthy one for you, so enjoy.


----------



## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Beschi's is the most unpleasant set I have heard - by a wide margin.


----------



## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Ukko said:


> Beschi's is the most unpleasant set I have heard - by a wide margin.


What do you think of the sets from Susan Sheppard and Jaap ter Linden?


----------



## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Bulldog said:


> What do you think of the sets from Susan Sheppard and Jaap ter Linden?


Nothing; haven't heard them. I have enough 'representative' recordings to hold me now, I think. Like H. Schiff's best.


----------



## Blake (Nov 6, 2013)

I've mentioned this in another thread, but a repeat seems appropriate. Paolo Pandolfo performs the entire Cello Suites on the Viola da Gamba. He plays impeccably, and it's really cool to hear these suites through the voice of the Viol.


----------



## scratchgolf (Nov 15, 2013)

Vesuvius said:


> I've mentioned this in another thread, but a repeat seems appropriate. Paolo Pandolfo performs the entire Cello Suites on the Viola da Gamba. He plays impeccably, and it's really cool to hear these suites through the voice of the Viol.
> 
> View attachment 29746


I'm gonna check this out. I love the Cello in small doses but I have a hard time listening for more than 20 minutes.


----------



## Blake (Nov 6, 2013)

scratchgolf said:


> I'm gonna check this out. I love the Cello in small doses but I have a hard time listening for more than 20 minutes.


It is a bass Viol, but the timbre is quite different than that of the Cello.


----------



## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

As a Bach fanatic I have a number of recordings of the cello suites, and I'm familiar with several more. I like Rostropovich' recording... but I prefer his early live recording made in the Soviet Union. I find this one to be far more muscular and rhythmic than the studio version. Ma is OK... but a bit middle-of-the-road for me. Pieter Wispelwey's version... this one being his second recording... is a marvelous HIP version employing a Baroque cello. Isserlis' version is quite good... but as with Ma I'm not certain it has enough of a unique voice to qualify as a first choice over Rostropovich, Fournier, Starker, or Tortelier. These four names, IMO, are the essential artists to turn to for Bach's cello suites. Starker made 4 or 5 recordings. His recordings are muscular, dark, and profoundly moving. Tortellier's recording is equally fine. My favorite recording is probably that of Pierre Fournier. I find that they contain a similar muscularity and emotional depth as Starker... but they are more fluid... capturing the movement and elegance of the underlying dance structures.


----------



## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> ...My favorite recording is probably that of Pierre Fournier. I find that they contain a similar muscularity and emotional depth as Starker... but they are more fluid... capturing the movement and elegance of the underlying dance structures.


Coincidence! I'm listening to Fournier's #3 right now. I really like his set.


----------

