# Bach's Cello suites



## Oliver

One of my favourite Bach works along with the Partitas and Goldbergs.

What are your favourite suites/movements?

And which cellist do you prefer? I have Janos Starker's recording and love it.


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## Taneyev

Which Starker recording?


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

My favourite is definitely no. 5


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## Oliver

Odnoposoff said:


> Which Starker recording?


Mercury, it says.


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## Ukko

Harumph.

There is a thread on this subject, in which I have posted the definitive response. (Schiff).


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## mmsbls

Suite 3 Prelude Rostropovich (I also have Kliegel and Haimovitz).


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## joen_cph

Own *Zeuthen*´s which is very good, lively and warm, and also includes the flute partita arranged for cello (he argues that it might originally could have been composed for cello). Often available at a very cheap price.

I also have *Casals* which is eccentric and with poor sound, but sometimes interesting.

Skipped *Shafran* - dull, slow and not very varied, and *Fournier*, which I also found too introvert.

I would like to hear _Haimowitz_ - an excellent cellist indeed.


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## Ukko

joen_cph said:


> [...]
> I would like to hear _Haimowitz_ - an excellent cellist indeed.


Too serious for me, lacking in lilt. Have you heard Tortelier? Also quite serious, but with redeeming grit.


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## joen_cph

Hilltroll72 said:


> Too serious for me, lacking in lilt. Have you heard Tortelier? Also quite serious, but with redeeming grit.


No, haven´t heard Tortelier ... When speaking of Haimowitz, I have been particularly impressed with his Crumb sonata and recital discs for DG.

Zeuthen studied briefly with Tortelier, and went on a pilgrimage to Paris as a pupil. In a radio interview, he told about having arrived to the city in order to play for the Master the next day. He then bought several bags of cherries which were on a special offer, and ate all the delicious berries - but bitterly regretted it  .


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## bassClef

Starker for me too - warm and sensuous.


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## Ukko

joen_cph said:


> No, haven´t heard Tortelier ... When speaking of Haimowitz, I have been particularly impressed with his Crumb sonata and recital discs for DG.
> 
> Zeuthen studied briefly with Tortelier, and went on a pilgrimage to Paris as a pupil. In a radio interview, he told about having arrived to the city in order to play for the Master the next day. He then bought several bags of cherries which were on a special offer, and ate oll the delicious berries - but bitterly regretted it  .


Hah. Thanks for the anecdote. Thinking on the Haimowitz... I seem to recall that he caught some static about his interpretations there; maybe you _will_ find it interesting.


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## Sonata

bassClef said:


> Starker for me too - warm and sensuous.


Interesting how different the same pieces can sound by a different player. I've only heard one set of three of the suites 
(1,3,5), and they sound stark and gritty to me. Like the passing away of an era, almost apocalyptic. Well, at least one of them sounded like that, I honestly don't remember which. I have not listened for awhile. Still, the contrast between performers is quite intruiging.


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## Vaneyes

I appreciate Casals' historical documentation. For regular listening, either Gendron or Schiff. Tone and flow are everything in these. I do not like over-the-top choppy performances, of which there are too many. I have no single suite preference.


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## Guest

I like Gavriel Lipkind's SACD recording--very dramatic and romantic. Perhaps not for the purists.


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## powerbooks

I have quite a few sets as you can imagine 

I would highly recommend everyone try to get the Zuill Bailey set from Tealarc: Great playing all the way!

http://www.amazon.com/Bach-Cello-Suites-Zuill-Bailey/dp/B0030GBSVQ









(Not going to break your bank, either!)


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## Ukko

powerbooks said:


> I have quite a few sets as you can imagine
> 
> I would highly recommend everyone try to get the Zuill Bailey set from Tealarc: Great playing all the way!
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Bach-Cello-Suites-Zuill-Bailey/dp/B0030GBSVQ
> 
> View attachment 6030
> 
> 
> (Not going to break your bank, either!)


I vaguely recall comments on this set in another (newsgroup) forum. Strong comments, both pro and con, having to do with interpretation, I think. I heard one suite, which seemed both dramatic and very serious.


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## powerbooks

Hilltroll72 said:


> I vaguely recall comments on this set in another (newsgroup) forum. Strong comments, both pro and con, having to do with interpretation, I think. I heard one suite, which seemed both dramatic and very serious.


Maybe on Amazon? I like it because his approach is fresh in a sense of dramatize some of the music. People may not like it this way, but I am kind of bored by so many faceless performances since all those classical icons (Stark, Ma, etc.), Jian Wang being an exception (very romantic if I recall).

I even started to look for adoptions of the suites to other instruments..... not as many as the solo violin suites, though.


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## skrishie

Nigel North recorded them on the lute. It is my favorite recording of the pieces. Plenty of us guitarists use Nigel as a model for interpreting Bach.


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## Taneyev

I've the suites by Cassadó, Gendron, Tortellier, Fournier and 2 Starker. My favorites are the first Starker (on the 50s) and Fournier. Also have it on viola and on violin.


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## Jeremy Marchant

When I was a child, Paul Tortelier did a series of master classes on the suites, one per show. (Now that's something you'd never get on British tv now.) Later, I bought his first vinyl set for EMI but, even as a novice, I sensed his readings were too romanticised. I've since inherited his second EMI set but not got round to playing it, likewise Casals and Kirshbaum. Over the years, I’ve bought Harrell, Ma, Wispelwey. I have vague feelings of dissatisfaction with the last three (particularly the Wispelwey which was very well reviewed on release).

Given I am not abut to buy an eighth set, which of these should I listen to?


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## StlukesguildOhio

I have two versions by Starker... (according to the good music guide these are the only two still in print):



















Fournier's...










an early live recording by Rostropovitch that I prefer to his studio recording:










Paul Tortelier's set:










as well as Yo-Yo Ma's initial recording. I enjoy all of them. I love the muscularity of Rostropovitch set, the stark, darkness of Starker... Seriously, you can't go wrong with any of these recordings.


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## Ukko

/\ Which Wispelwey, _Jeremy_? I like the second marginally more, but in both he shares the common over-seriousness.

To answer your question: You should listen to enough of Ma to be fairly saturated with bland; and then make another purchase - the Schiff - and be happy.

It is not an indication of simple mindedness to be happy, as long as the sensation doesn't persist.


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## starthrower

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
That's my new signature line!


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