Bach Cello Suites

[Mandryka]

Maybe I should have written sucks or stinks?

Reeks and stinks are for bad smells. Reeks, for me, is just for very strong, very bad smells. Sucks is american (teenager?) slang meaning "is rubbish"  -- not really British English. Using the verb to suck, you can't say "it sucks of sentimentality" or "it sucks sentimentality" as far as I know, certainly not in British English.

[prémont]

Reeks and stinks are for bad smells. Reeks, for me, is just for very strong, very bad smells. Sucks is american (teenager?) slang meaning "is rubbish"  -- not really British English. Using the verb to suck, you can't say "it sucks of sentimentality" or "it sucks sentimentality" as far as I know, certainly not in British English.

Thanks for the explanation Mandryka. It seems as if "reeks" was what I meant (the bad smell of sentimentality).

[xochitl]

i was wondering, which cellists have the fastest preludes and gigues? ive been spending months going thru a bunch of recordings but somehow [esp. the preludes] feel more natural to me the faster theyre played

ive heard:
casals
bailey
yo-yo ma [both]
slava
wang
starker I
wispelwey III
kuijken
badiarov
thedeen
zeuthen
angela east
cocset
ostertag
zelenka
mork
schiff
bylsma [both]
fournier
queyras
harnoncourt
kirshbaum

any others i should know about?

[North Star]

i was wondering, which cellists have the fastest preludes and gigues? ive been spending months going thru a bunch of recordings but somehow [esp. the preludes] feel more natural to me the faster theyre played

any others i should know about?

Paolo Beschi!

[xochitl]

  thank you! fastest preludes in the west! 

now i can really dance to my bach

[Brahmsian]

Any recommendations for the darkest, deepest recording of Bach's Cello Suite No. 5 Sarabande movement, specifically?

Other than Casals (not interested) or Gendron (have already and love).

Merci! 

[Brahmsian]

Any recommendations for the darkest, deepest recording of Bach's Cello Suite No. 5 Sarabande movement, specifically?

Other than Casals (not interested) or Gendron (have already and love).

Merci! 

And, I'm open to 'period instrument' suggestions too (viola da gamba, or whatever the hell you call it) 

[North Star]

And, I'm open to 'period instrument' suggestions too (viola da gamba, or whatever the hell you call it) 

Viola da Gamba is a totally different instrument of course.

Bruno Cocset's PI cello recording is a good one for sure although it's a while since I've heard it.

[Mandryka]

Any recommendations for the darkest, deepest recording of Bach's Cello Suite No. 5 Sarabande movement, specifically?

Other than Casals (not interested) or Gendron (have already and love).

Merci! 

Check Janos Starker on the Mercury Living Presence recording. I think the whole 5th suite there is particularly special.

[jlaurson]

And, I'm open to 'period instrument' suggestions too (viola da gamba, or whatever the hell you call it) 

like the viola pomposa?? http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2011/10/bach-suites-shouldered.html

[aukhawk]

Kniazev does dark and deep to excess. His is the slowest 5/Sarabande of 20-odd versions that I have.  Lipkind is a bit less extreme and a much safer recommendation overall I think. 
East lies in between these two for duration (in the Suite 5 Sarabande specifically) but I wouldn't call it 'dark', and she is generally quirky.  In a good way.  The recorded tone of Pandolfo's viola da gamba is just wonderful, unearthly in this and all the suites.

[prémont]

Kniazev does dark and deep to excess. His is the slowest 5/Sarabande of 20-odd versions that I have.  Lipkind is a bit less extreme and a much safer recommendation overall I think. 
East lies in between these two for duration (in the Suite 5 Sarabande specifically) but I wouldn't call it 'dark', and she is generally quirky.  In a good way.  The recorded tone of Pandolfo's viola da gamba is just wonderful, unearthly in this and all the suites.

Agree about Kniazev.

Lipkind however is often rather idiosyncratic elsewhere, and is not at all a safe general rcommendation.

[aukhawk]

True - I agree - not a 'safe' recommendation - just 'safer', and leaning in the same general direction as Kniazev.

My idea of 'safe' would probably start with Mork.  His recordings re-ignited my interest in these Suites and led me to explore a lot of diverse approaches and I don't regret a minute of it.  I haven't listened to them since of course!

[Moonfish]

Any recommendations for the darkest, deepest recording of Bach's Cello Suite No. 5 Sarabande movement, specifically?

Other than Casals (not interested) or Gendron (have already and love).

Merci! 

I very much enjoy Daniel Shafran in Bach's Cello Suites. He has a tendency to dwell on the dark spots in the 5th. Perhaps it is the "darkness" you are looking for? It is in the Russian Legends/Historical release from Brilliant.

[amw]

I've heard the suites live many times, including two different occasions on which all six were played (Martin Rummel on a modern cello, Carter Brey on a baroque one), but I only seem to have one recording of them, by Ophélie Gaillard on Ambroisie. I quite like it, and am not particularly tempted to seek out another one, but I am sort of curious if I'm missing anything. Damn these threads.

(not an answer to ChamberNut's question, though 5 is my favourite of the six; there's very little angst in Ophélie's interpretations that I've been able to locate)

[Mandryka]

To return to the sarbande from the fifth, apart from Janos Starker I would say Badiarov is very moving in that movement, and so is Ralph Kirschbaum - Kirschbaum is my favourite at a slow tempo.

[Sammy]

For the Sarabande from the 5th Suite, I tend to favor Rostropovich.  I'm not a big fan of his Bach because of his exaggerated romanticism.  However, he reins it in for the Sarabande and delivers a very profound and tense reading. 

[Dancing Divertimentian]

I've heard the suites live many times, including two different occasions on which all six were played (Martin Rummel on a modern cello, Carter Brey on a baroque one), but I only seem to have one recording of them, by Ophélie Gaillard on Ambroisie. I quite like it, and am not particularly tempted to seek out another one, but I am sort of curious if I'm missing anything.

I have Gaillard's recording on Ambroise, too. It's extremely fine. Another one I have is Beschi. The two couldn't be more different. Beschi has a husky tone and he really digs into his instrument. In contrast Gaillard is much more fluid, with a bounce to her approach reminiscent of the dance.

Neither has a leg up over the other but they certainly aren't the same. I like having both but could probably do just as well with Gaillard's alone (or the converse).

[Brahmsian]

Many thanks to all of you for those recommendations.  You've given me a lot to consider! 

[aukhawk]

Just to say I'm really enjoying this set by Isang Enders.
Technically well on top of his craft, stabby staccato bowing, and to my ears somewhat close to Lipkind, but without any of his rather alarming excesses.
[edited to add - I forgot what I really wanted to say - a continuous light 'breathing' rubato - like a Chopin piano performance (though not so marked as that obviously)

Close and unusually dry recording, but without fingerboard (East) or heavy breathing (Zelenka).
Right up there with my current favourites, which include Beschi, Queyras and East.

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