Cello Suites

Steven Isserlis (cello)

Inclusief "The Song of the Birds"

Sinds hun "ontdekking" door de Spanjaard Pablo Casals in de jaren 1930 behoren Bachs cellosuites BWV 1007-1012 tot de meest gespeelde sololiteratuur voor dit instrument. Met Steven Isserlis waagt een van 's werelds beste cellisten zich nu aan Bachs meesterwerk - en met veel respect, zoals hij onomwonden toegeeft: "Bachs suites zijn van zo'n perfectie en grandeur dat het bijna onmogelijk is om je er klaar voor te voelen." Met deze opname laat Isserlis zien dat hij meer dan opgewassen is tegen deze taak. De uitgave wordt gecompleteerd door een prikkelende tekst in het boekje, waarin Isserlis zijn persoonlijke gedachten over de suites uiteenzet en ingaat op de stand van het wetenschappelijk Bach-onderzoek.

Bach, J S - Cello Suites Nos. 1-6, BWV1007-1012:
 No. 1 in G major, BWV1007
 No. 2 in D minor, BWV1008
 No. 3 in C major, BWV1009
 No. 4 in E flat major, BWV1010
 No. 5 in C minor, BWV1011
 No. 6 in D major, BWV1012

 The song of the birds (arr. von Sally Beamfish)

 Suite Für Violoncello Solo Nr. 1 G-Dur Bwv 1007 (Auszug)
  Prelude (aus dem Manuskript der Anna Magdalena Bach)

 Suite Für Violoncello Solo Nr. 1 G-Dur Bwv 1007 (Auszug)
  Prelude (aus dem Johann Peter Kellner Manuskript)

 Suite Für Violoncello Solo Nr. 1 G-Dur Bwv 1007 (Auszug)
  Prelude (aus der Sammlung Johann Christoph Westphal)

"…this… the most wonderful cello-playing, surely among the most consistently beautiful to have been heard in this demanding music, as well as the most musically alert and vivid. …few will fail to be charmed by Isserlis's sweetly singing tone, his perfectly voiced chords and superb control of articulation and dynamic - the way the final chord of the First Prélude dies away is spellbinding."
Gramophone Magazine - July 2007

"Isserlis is a passionate musician, but never thoughtless or frivolous, and the delicacy of his responses on this wonderful set sometimes take the breath away. If your soul fails to quiver in the quiet depths of the fifth suite’s sarabande, then you must be a robot in disguise. Yet he’s not on his knees always worshipping: time and again Isserlis asserts the music’s dance roots, whether through his thrusting accents or by sweeping through with a winning lilt … Just listen to Isserlis, Bach and your heart, and the music that never dies"
The Times
 
"Isserlis has done the impossible. He has given the listener something new, and indeed something outstandingly good...He suggests that their expressive journey marks them as “Mystery Suites”, travelling from the nativity...to the Resurrection...Unusual as the decision is, it does work.
A completely new and inspiring benchmark for this unique tour de force"
BBC Music Magazine - 22nd May 2007
 
"Isserlis couples scholarly depth with technical wizardry and exuberant passion. Time stands still at the intensely moving Fifth Sarabande. Supreme recordings."
Classic FM Magazine - July 2011