Bach's Violin Sonatas & Partitas (solo)

[Mandryka]

Overall I would probably rank this ahead of any other recording by a male violinist that I've heard, in the 21stC (and there have been a fair few good ones in the last 4 years alone).

There are so many of these things, I find it impossible to remember them all. It probably helps if you play them yourself! This year alone there's this one and Gottfried von der Goltz and I'm sure other good ones I'm forgetting or never knew about.

I listened to the third sonata last night, by Carmignola: very enjoyable.

[aukhawk]

Yes, so many. I listened to Gottfried von der Goltz when you mentioned him a while back, and found it very worthwhile.

Just since 2015, apart from Giuliano Carmignola and Gottfried von der Goltz, notable recordings include: Denes Zsigmondy, Pavel Šporcl, Christoph Schickedanz, Milan Pala, Boris Begelman, Christian Tetzlaff, Gunar Letzbor and there is also Conrad von der Goltz but I haven't sampled that one.  I would add to those Pavlo Beznosiuk (2011, re-issued in 2016) and a particular favourite of mine, Brian Brooks (2006).

And that's just the men - some notable recordings by females over the same period include: Rachel Barton Pine, Antje Weithaas, Keiko Urushihara, Mie Kobayashi, Michelle Ross, a re-issue of Johanna Martzy and a part-set (so far) by Etsuko Tsuchida. [edit to add - Hilary Hahn ]

Of these, Zsigmondy and Martzy are very old-skule, good on their own terms and not really comparable with the rest.  I would say Carmignola, Tetzlaff(3), Beznosuik, Brooks and Pine are all quite recommendable, with Letzbor and Pala both very interesting and unusual but not first-choice versions, and G.Goltz, Sporci, Begelman, Weithaas, Urushihara all well worth a listen.

Not forgetting those that did best in the blind comparison 3 years ago, recordings pre-dating 2015, the top 5 in order: Viktoria Mullova, Lucy van Dael, Arthur Grumiaux and Julia Fischer, Alina Ibragimova.  All very recommendable, goes without saying, and also quite a varied collection of styles.  And also not forgetting those that have consistently found favour earlier in this thread, such as Rachel Podger, Ingrid Matthews, Nathan Milstein.

Plenty of scope there to be really picky when choosing a go-to recording of the Sonatas & Partitas.  (I haven't even mentioned my own 1st choice, as she was an early faller in the blind comparison.  )  And yes, plenty of "other good ones I'm forgetting or never knew about".

[Traverso]

Accardo

More than the so- called great recordings I favor  Salvatore Accardo ( non hip) .Sigiswald Kuijken is my first choice   (DHM first recording)

https://www.youtube.com/v/jOvBUaqYXkA

[Marc]

I haven't got that many recordings of these great works. I only know that I like Fernandez, Matthews (HIP), and Szeryng and Ughi (non-HIP) very much. But there is a lot to enjoy from other recordings, like Kuijken twice, Mullova, Podger, Milstein, Faust... et cetera. Let's just say that these works bring out the best of performers.

[Que]

I haven't got that many recordings of these great works. I only know that I like Fernandez, Matthews (HIP), and Szeryng and Ughi (non-HIP) very much. But there is a lot to enjoy from other recordings, like Kuijken twice, Mullova, Podger, Milstein, Faust... et cetera. Let's just say that these works bring out the best of performers.

Nice that you mention François Fernandez, a relatively unknown recording issued on the tiny label Flora.
On two separate CDs, judt to add to the attraction.... Why anyone buys that hard to find, esoteric stuff, is beyond me! 

Anyway, after Milstein and Kuijken (I) his recordings are the most recent addition to my favourites.

Q

PS I fell out of love with Carmignola after his DIVOX and Erato years.... Not sure what exactly happened...

[San Antone]

Nice that you mention François Fernandez, a relatively unknown recording issued on the tiny label Flora.
On two separate CDs, judt to add to the attraction.... Why anyone buys that hard to find, esoteric stuff, is beyond me! 

Anyway, after Milstein and Kuijken (I) his recordings are the most recent addition to my favourites.

Q

PS I fell out of love with Carmignola after his DIVOX and Erato years.... Not sure what exactly happened...

I was only able to purchase Vol. II of the François Fernandez recordings earlier this year.  Vol. I was OOP at the publishers with no reissue in the works, and I even contacted the artist directly, all to no avail.  Unfortunate, since based on Vol. II, this is a fine set.

[Que]

I was only able to purchase Vol. II of the François Fernandez recordings earlier this year.  Vol. I was OOP at the publishers with no reissue in the works, and I even contacted the artist directly, all to no avail.  Unfortunate, since based on Vol. II, this is a fine set.

I guess I was very lucky... when it was sold out anywhere else, I was still able to buy a copy from Flora directly.

Q

[Mandryka]

with Letzbor and Pala both very interesting and unusual but not first-choice versions,

I just listened to some of Pala for the first time. I know what makes Letzbor tick -- he took inspiration from Georg Muffat. Do you know if Milan Pala is a free spirit, or does he say anything about what led him to such an original way of playing the music?

[bwv 1080]

does not get much better

https://www.youtube.com/v/Bheo4LGFODw

Although I saw Jason Vieaux perform BWV 1001 a couple of weeks ago, he is recording all the Violin partitas and sonatas which should be a great disk

[aukhawk]

I just listened to some of Pala for the first time. I know what makes Letzbor tick -- he took inspiration from Georg Muffat. Do you know if Milan Pala is a free spirit, or does he say anything about what led him to such an original way of playing the music?

He's possibly a Batagov-ish type, plays contemporary/ethnic music on a 5-string violin (extra low string to give a sort of combined violin/viola) - and plays Bach very slowly (and sometimes very quietly - I thought it was a recording fault when I first listened to it!).
His website was quite informative but seems a bit dysfunctional as I write:
http://www.milanpala.com/recordings

Plus - add to the list of new recordings I quoted a few posts upthread - Hilary Hahn.

[Ras]

The 2018 release by Ning Feng on Channel Records is also very good.
He plays a modernized strativarius, but it is good.
[asin]B077GJ8DLP[/asin]

[North Star]

This is certainly very different than what I have heard before. Bismuth speeds through the Chaconne in under 10 minutes, on a baroque violin.
https://www.youtube.com/v/TbyJZdEzJBU

[johnlewisgrant]

I tend to favor Ingrid Matthews (baroque violin) on Centaur.

Ditto!

[amw]

I listened to the Boris Begelman set last week.  Issued in 2017.
The set is titled Sei Solo making much of the "you're on your own, pal" play on words at the head of the score.
[asin]B074XS5ZHT[/asin]
Moscow-born but based in Italy, according to the sleevenote Begelman has been featured soloist with several of Italy's specialist baroque ensembles.  He plays a violin dating from the 1790s.

He's pretty far along the severe, zero vibrato end of the performance spectrum, hardcore, inhabiting the same sort of space as Ingrid Matthews or Rachel Barton Pine.  He's recorded in a small but reverbrant acoustic sounding a little like someone playing in his bathroom, and I wouldn't say sweetness of tone is his highest priority.  Despite all that I did enjoy the music (I nearly always do, regardless of who is playing) and the playing is certainly assured and highly accomplished.  He takes the Chaconne faster than most, with an unusual stabbing staccato bowing which diminishes it a little, I think.

Good, but wouldn't displace Pine for me if I was in the mood for this type of performance, or Ibragimova for something just a notch less severe and more to my taste.  As the man himself says at the end of his sleevenote "Looking back ... ... I would have played it differently."

I like Matthews as has already been established, so I ended up listening to Pine (who I'd never seriously considered before for some reason—I guess just not thinking of the Midwest as a place that produces good historically informed performances...) and I also like her, if maybe not as much. Still, thanks for the good word, I will look into more of her discography.

[Mandryka]

I sampled the tracks on Amazon and was interested in what I heard, but will wait on purchasing.  There appears to be something of a trend in more recent Bach recordings which demonstrate slower, looser and, for lack of a better term, atypical interpretations of Bach: Anton Batagov, Wolfgang Rubsam, Viola de Hoog, Thomas Demenga (atypical in other ways), Gunar Letzbor.  And I've noticed that while I "love" them on first hearing over time they lose much of their attraction.

In your list, there's something very fundamental in common between Rubsam and Letzbor. They both believe that mainstream HIP is wrong about how to interpret the score. With Rubsam the error is about voicing, he has written about it on the website, along with Keith Hill and possibly Christoph Wolff too. With Letzbor it's to do with bowing, and in particular to do with the influence of Georg Muffat on JSB

I am repeatedly astonished to see that many early music specialists, to the present day, stay well clear of Muffat. Is it not possible for us to assume that Bach's dance music, strongly imitative of the French style as it is, was played according to the performance practice described by Muffat? But that would render impossible many things that are still heard everywhere! The special types of bowing and bow divisions make overly fast tempi impossible, for they strongly structure the melodies and give each figure an especially rhythmical character. The melos recedes into the background, allowing rhythmic components to appear. at the same time, the dance bowing is a help, allowing the formal structure inherent in the dances to emerge naturally.

One senses a certain initial irritation when playing dances in the manner described by Muffat for the first time. The results sound awkward, stiff and choppy; the feeling of bowing is as if one were about to lose the stick at any moment. a great deal of practice, patience and zest for experimentation is required in order to arrive at a satisfactory result . . .

Should one therefore play Bach's solo suites with French bowing rules today? Let us approach the music in the way that a virtuoso of the Baroque period would have done! in his execution, a soloist surely showed consideration for the special characteristics of soloistic violin playing. the bowings are essential for playing together in the orchestra, but soloistic interpretation must be executed in a considerably more differentiated manner. Strict adherence to the rules would hinder an exciting interpretation, indeed render it almost impossible. This does not mean, however, that one can simply disregard all the rules. As a foundation, the rules continue to apply. They have arisen out of practical music-making and were developed by important violinists!

I like what Letzbor does, and I like what Rubsam does. I feel the opposite of you: I feel they grow in interest on repeated listening, rather than diminish.

I just want to echo this comment that I made last year, the bit in bold. Revisiting these performances now I like them even more.

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

In your list, there's something very fundamental in common between Rubsam and Letzbor. They both believe that mainstream HIP is wrong about how to interpret the score. With Rubsam the error is about voicing, he has written about it on the website, along with Keith Hill and possibly Christoph Wolff too. With Letzbor it's to do with bowing, and in particular to do with the influence of Georg Muffat on JSB


I like what Letzbor does, and I like what Rubsam does. I feel the opposite of you: I feel they grow in interest on repeated listening, rather than diminish.


I just want to echo this comment that I made last year, the bit in bold. Revisiting these performances now I like them even more.

Feel generally the same. I like Rubsam's approach a lot, and the generally looser performance feel. In a very general way I find it similar to Harnoncourt's approach (in contrast to the Trevor Pinnock 'sewing machine' feel). Harnoncourt was freer with phrasing and wrote that, in contrast to modern practice, different instruments in an ensemble playing identical or similar melodic lines would use different phrasing and ornamentation to create a more colorful sound.

[San Antone]

It's been months since I listened to Rubsam and should revisit his WTC.  Regarding Letzbor, it was his sound that began to bother me, but I should give him a re-listen as well.  These works are so good it almost doesn't matter who is playing them, IMO.

[aukhawk]

The same regarding Letzbor.  He is certainly worth listening to and I have done so a few times since his introduction, but I do find the sound 'difficult' and after a couple of movements I usually turn to someone else - anyone else - with a sigh of relief.

[Mandryka]

The same regarding Letzbor.  He is certainly worth listening to and I have done so a few times since his introduction, but I do find the sound 'difficult' and after a couple of movements I usually turn to someone else - anyone else - with a sigh of relief.

And the sound is supposed to be its strength! He'll be weeping if he reads that comment of yours.

Someone I know said it was more structured noise than music (I think music is structured noise myself.)

[aukhawk]

I'm no musician but I suppose musicians must learn to love a very different - and more visceral - sound experience from their instruments compared with what we are used to.  The Letzbor recording I take to be more of a violinist's-ear view.  Nothing wrong with it technically of course.