Bach Cello Suites

[Scarpia]

Who has the most energetic presentation of these suites?  Kirschbaum is good, but I don't like Ma, Rostropovich, Schiff, Grendon, Maisky, Starker, Casals, Blysma, and a host of other "deep" interpreters of these works.  Give me the dance!

If you don't hear Dance in Schiff, you may consider giving up. 

[Que]

Who has the most energetic presentation of these suites?  Kirschbaum is good, but I don't like Ma, Rostropovich, Schiff, Grendon, Maisky, Starker, Casals, Blysma, and a host of other "deep" interpreters of these works.  Give me the dance!

Try Paolo Beschi (Winter & Winter) or Bruno Cocset (Alpha), maybe Ophélie Gaillard (Ambroisie) is to your taste. Avoid non-HIP interpretations since they rarely stick to the authentic Baroque dance rhythms.

Q

[Grazioso]

Who has the most energetic presentation of these suites?  Kirschbaum is good, but I don't like Ma, Rostropovich, Schiff, Grendon, Maisky, Starker, Casals, Blysma, and a host of other "deep" interpreters of these works.  Give me the dance!

Did you try the first Bylsma set on Sony? I haven't heard his later one, but the first one certainly conveys a Baroque sense of dance to my ears.

[prémont]

Who has the most energetic presentation of these suites?  Kirschbaum is good, but I don't like Ma, Rostropovich, Schiff, Grendon, Maisky, Starker, Casals, Blysma, and a host of other "deep" interpreters of these works.  Give me the dance!

Try Stephen Isserlis (Hyperion). Light and merry dancing, rhytmically alert - and do not expect any deep interpretation here.

[Bunny]

Try Stephen Isserlis (Hyperion). Light and merry dancing, rhytmically alert - and do not expect any deep interpretation here.

But it's so closely miked much of it sounds "col legno."

[prémont]

But it's so closely miked much of it sounds "col legno."

Not so much, that it annoys me, - and it does not change my general impression .

[DavidRoss]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Qwz0foa7sQ

[Dancing Divertimentian]

...maybe Ophélie Gaillard (Ambroisie) is to your taste.

Gaillard's is a nicely 'danced' version. I like how she makes the most of the long line: flowing and nuanced.

[bassio]

Try Stephen Isserlis (Hyperion). Light and merry dancing, rhytmically alert - and do not expect any deep interpretation here.

Isserlis is my favorite too premont. Although I would suggest that his D minor Suite Prelude deserves the adjective "deep". 
Deep in a HIP way of course 

[Bunny]

Isserlis is my favorite too premont. Although I would suggest that his D minor Suite Prelude deserves the adjective "deep". 
Deep in a HIP way of course 

Not HIP to my ears!  He sounds very, very modern -- especially wrt to the timbre of his instrument.

[prémont]

Isserlis is my favorite too premont. Although I would suggest that his D minor Suite Prelude deserves the adjective "deep". 
Deep in a HIP way of course 

Well, not quite sure, but I definitely do not find his Sarabande of the second Suite and particulary not his Sarabande of the fifth site deep at all. Actually it is these two movements which disappoint me the most in his otherwise very life-affirming interpretation.

[Bunny]

Well, not quite sure, but I definitely do not find his Sarabande of the second Suite and particulary not his Sarabande of the fifth site deep at all. Actually it is these two movements which disappoint me the most in his otherwise very life-affirming interpretation.

Oh dear!  The Second Suite is about the Agony in the Garden and the Fifth Suite is about the Crucifixion according to Isserlis.  Not the best places to lack depth. 

[Marc]

Oh dear! The Second Suite is about the Agony in the Garden and the Fifth Suite is about the Crucifixion according to Isserlis. Not the best places to lack depth.

In general, I'm not that fond of such romanticized descriptions, like it is some kind of Programma Music.
On the other hand: we have no idea what Bach was 'thinking' during composing these Suites, so each and everyone of us is free to make their own analysis.
I could also say: the Sarabande of the Second Suite is about a lost love. So it must have been composed shortly after the death of Bach's first wife .... who will be there to contradict me?

We do know this for sure: Bach used church music again for secular reasons without any problem, even if the 'meaning' of the music changed a lot by that.
A lost soul in Gethsemane could become a lost soul in the Gardens of Lust.
Who's to say?

In the end, ALL music was SDG to him: Soli Deo Gloria.

[prémont]

Oh dear!  The Second Suite is about the Agony in the Garden and the Fifth Suite is about the Crucifixion according to Isserlis.  Not the best places to lack depth.

It is downright impossible to hear such things in his interpretation IMO.

[prémont]

We do know this for sure: Bach used church music again for secular reasons without any problem, even if the 'meaning' of the music changed a lot by that.

I am not sure that you are right about this. We know that he used secular music again for church music, but can you recall any uneqivocal example of the opposite?

[Marc]

I am not sure that you are right about this. We know that he used secular music again for church music, but can you recall any uneqivocal example of the opposite?

My mistake, I indeed meant the other way around.
(Although the Matthäus-Passion and the secular Mourning Cantata "Klagt, Kinder, klagt es aller Welt" BWV 244a do raise some interesting questions.)

Luckilly my mistake doesn't kill the meaning of my entire post.
Just some turning around: the Gardens of Lust could finally become Gethsemane. If someone provided good lyrics (maybe Bach himself), JSB would't have had any problems with that.

[Bunny]

In general, I'm not that fond of such romanticized descriptions, like it is some kind of Programma Music.
On the other hand: we have no idea what Bach was 'thinking' during composing these Suites, so each and everyone of us is free to make their own analysis.http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/Themes/default/images/bbc/toggle.gif
I could also say: the Sarabande of the Second Suite is about a lost love. So it must have been composed shortly after the death of Bach's first wife .... who will be there to contradict me?

We do know this for sure: Bach used church music again for secular reasons without any problem, even if the 'meaning' of the music changed a lot by that.
A lost soul in Gethsemane could become a lost soul in the Gardens of Lust.
Who's to say?

In the end, ALL music was SDG to him: Soli Deo Gloria.

I doubt old Bach was thinking of Gethsemane, isn't he the man who explained that playing the music was all about putting your fingers on the right keys at the right time?  Steven Isserlis, on the other hand, believes that the suites are an
   expressive journey [that] marks them as "Mystery Suites", travelling from the nativity (No.1) to the agony in the garden (No.2),    the descent of the Holy Spirit (No.3), the Presentation in the Temple (No.4), the Crucifixion (No.5), to the Resurrection (No.6). 

(BBC    Magazine)

If someone finds parts of Suites 2 and 5 to be superficial then clearly he has not communicated the gravity of his feelings as he was performing.

[Marc]

If someone finds parts of Suites 2 and 5 to be superficial then clearly he has not communicated the gravity of his feelings as he was performing.

Perhaps.
That certain 'someone' might also be missing something.
For interactive communication, one needs at least two persons.

[Bunny]

It is downright impossible to hear such things in his interpretation IMO.

It also seems strange to superimpose a "program" on Bach -- definitely a romantic conceit and far from the rigorous application of historically informed performance.

[kishnevi]

In general, I'm not that fond of such romanticized descriptions, like it is some kind of Programma Music.
On the other hand: we have no idea what Bach was 'thinking' during composing these Suites, so each and everyone of us is free to make their own analysis.
I could also say: the Sarabande of the Second Suite is about a lost love. So it must have been composed shortly after the death of Bach's first wife .... who will be there to contradict me?

We do know this for sure: Bach used church music again for secular reasons without any problem, even if the 'meaning' of the music changed a lot by that.
A lost soul in Gethsemane could become a lost soul in the Gardens of Lust.
Who's to say?

In the end, ALL music was SDG to him: Soli Deo Gloria.

Well, according to whomever it was that wrote the liner notes for the GROC rerelease of Perlman's recording of them, it's the solo violin works which memorialized his first wife.   The only evidence cited is that Bach's title,  Sei Solo, etc.  can mean either "Six Solos" or "Be alone". 

BTW, I referenced the Maria Kliegel recording of the Cello Suites a couple of days ago on this thread.  I've listened to it again since then;  this hearing it sounded very labored.  The dance element was there, but it seemed she was working too hard at it; you could almost hear the elbow grease.