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Track(s) taken from CDA67541/2

Cello Suite No 5 in C minor, BWV1011

composer
? early 1720s

Steven Isserlis (cello)
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Recording details: July 2006
Henry Wood Hall, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Andrew Keener
Engineered by Simon Eadon
Release date: May 2007
Total duration: 24 minutes 1 seconds

Cover artwork: Photograph of Steven Isserlis by Graham Topping.
 

Other recordings available for download

Alban Gerhardt (cello)
David Kenedy (cello)

Reviews

‘Thoughtful, respectful, inspirational playing, a perfectly-placed recording, stimulating notes … this is a fine achievement’ (BBC Radio 3 CD Review)

‘Some of the best Bach playing I've heard since Casals’ (BBC Radio 3 CD Review)

‘This is 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 Prelude dies away is spellbinding. There are so many other delights: the subtle comings and goings of the Third Prelude, the nobly poised Fifth Allemande, the swaggering climax into the Sixth Gigue—I cannot mention them all. Suffice to say that Isserlis's Bach is a major entrant into an already highly distinguished field, and a disc many will want to return to again and again’ (Gramophone)

‘His judicious ornaments sensitively decorate—never distort—Bach’s lines … rhythmically he’s impeccable. The free ‘phantasticus’ style of the first four Preludes is gloriously fluent, capturing the harmonic flow implied within the single cello line. The fifth, a French Overture, is free of bombast and its subsequent quasi-fugue lyrical and unhurried. Isserlis plays the sixth suite, intended for a five-string instrument, on a normal four-string cello, negotiating the stratospheric range with astonishing ease … his sense of style is matched by an outstandingly secure technique. He has no need for those impassioned tenutos behind which others hide the terrors of multiple-stopping … recording quality is excellent—two-channel stereo is all that’s required, and it’s excellently balanced between immediacy and spaciousness. Casals (re-issued on Naxos) started it all in 1936—Beamish’s Catalan folk-song arrangement is a charming tribute to him. Ter Linden (Harmonia Mundi) provides a fine period-instrument account, and Hugh (Kevin Mayhew) a somewhat reverberant but perceptive ‘modern’ option. But for me, Isserlis and Hyperion provide a completely new and inspiring benchmark for this unique tour de force’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘This landmark recording combines bravura technique with scholartly research to produce a new interpretation … pushing each rhythmic possiblity to the limit but never sacrificing grace, charm and elegance’ (The Observer)

‘These are the cellist's Everest, and Isserlis has waited a long time to commit them to disc: his superb interpretations now put him in that great line of cellists that stretches back to Casals’ (The Independent)

‘Isserlis's dance-movements, particularly the jaunty Gigues, have a verve that is often missing from the 'classic' performances, and his Sarabandes, most of all the sublime 'Crucifixion' of No 5, are serene moments of repose and reflection in these thought-provoking and magnificently played accounts of these corner-stone works’ (International Record Review)

‘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)

‘A worthy successor to Casals in every way. He creates the satisfying sense of a musical journey through the Suites … Isserlis's interpretation treads the path between profound intellectual understanding and a sense of spontaeous expression, both qualities that the music requires … this is an outstanding recording of some of the greatest works of classical music and a disc that every music-lover should own’ (Classic FM Magazine)

‘His vibrato-light tone is soft-grained but seems infinitely malleable. He can dance with the grace of perfect strength and physique, and sing plaintively, or from the heart, or in celebration, as if it were the most natural thing in the world for him. In short, he's brought off that most remarkable of feats: making Bach's six great cello suites sound as if they might well have been written for him. This is unmissable music-making’ (The Irish Times)

‘These performances grab you with their intimacy and full-bodied embrace, their simple dedication and emotional truthfulness—an elusive juxtaposition of opposites that Isserlis captures better than most. You never sense he is playing for mood or effect—dynamic and expressive contrasts are modest—but he brings wonderful vigour and connectedness to the dance-like figurations. The sound makes you feel Isserlis is sitting four yards away, not just enjoying himself but also completely bound up in the technical and quasi-improvisatory challenges of Bach's world’ (Financial Times)

‘In a radically organic approach, Steven Isserlis takes the works back to their meditative core … the inner voice is on the whole wondrously refreshing, laced with flashes of wit and dazzling insight. I am still finding surprises on third hearing’ (The Evening Standard)

‘The Bach Cello Suites are the Everest to be conquered by every cellist, and the latest assault has been made by Steven Isserlis, with triumphant success … with this cellist's ability to catch exactly the rhythmic movements and contrast them with the steady beauty of the slow passages, this is a specially fine account’ (Liverpool Daily Post)

‘A beautiful, absorbing, must-have set of performances, with some delightful little add-ons, notably Sally Beamish's exquisite arrangement of a Catalan folk song, included by Isserlis as a homage to Pablo Casals. This will be a record of the year’ (The Herald)

‘This is the finest recording of Bach's cello suites that I've heard. The playing is enthralling, the production superb; nearly every detail sounds just right. Steven Isserlis has bided his time to record these suites and he comes to them with technique and sensibility finely honed, all of it evident in his richly dark tone, fluent phrasing, lithe dance rhythms and lovingly crafted lyricism … one of the year's outstanding recordings’ (Goldberg)

‘Staying true to the Baroque ideal of free instrumental expression, he stamps his own unconventional wisdom on these almost three-centuries-old standards. No two interpreters will ever agree on the Allemande in Suite No 2 … Isserlis, for his part, cuts loose with a rollicking, stylized jig that puts to bed the prior brooding Prelude. He teases out the individual personalities in each of the dances and trumpets them, molding each suite into a fuller, organic whole. Isserlis impeccably controls his slow movements, and his focused, restrained use of vibrato is perfectly in character’ (Time Out Chicago)

‘Steven Isserlis achieves the ideal synthesis between the old-fashioned approach to Bach's solo pieces and newer, supposedly more authentic notions. Listening to Mr. Isserlis, you may find yourself enjoying these six works more than you ever have before. His rhythmic élan is downright infectious, and he finds the heart of the music without getting maudlin. A clear first choice for these much-recorded suites’ (The Dallas Morning News)

‘These are … meticulously prepared accounts of a highly personal and reverent nature. Listeners will immediately warm to Isserlis’s genial way with the First Suite and the solemn majesty applied to the Third. And while Isserlis may have the sub-text, the suites work with or without that in mind. Steven Isserlis knows the detailed history of these suites, both in performance and in composition, and applies his years of research and familiarity without omission to disc. The project has clearly been a labour of love and comes across that way—a set of recordings made from compulsion, not duty’ (Classical Source)

‘It has taken him years to face up to the monumental challenge that is the Bach Cello Suites, but Steven Isserlis comes up trumps in a deeply intelligent traversal with a tremendous emotional pay-off’ (FirstPost.com)

‘Isserlis has done the impossible. He has given the listener something new, and indeed something outstandingly good … this recording can sit proudly on the shelf alongside the great recordings of Casals and Rostropovich. In fact, I may find myself picking it up as the favourite’ (bbc.co.uk)
The principal conceit shaping this suite—the ‘scordatura’ tuning noted above—is largely hidden from the listener, but can throw the player’s sense of familiar fingerings andthe sounds they produce into disarray: it compels the performer to get to know their instrument in a rather novel way. The retuning also has a tangible effect on the instrument’s resonance, timbres and overtone colours. The prelude stands out as the only one of the set in so-called French ‘ouverture’ style, with a slow opening section showcasing rich four-note chords and stately dotted motifs. This is followed by a quicker, expansive fugal section, in which Bach’s invitation to imagine the missing elements of harmony and voice-leading is perhaps most pressing. The genre of fugue by its nature demands the participation of at least two voices presenting the same theme in temporal succession. Bach’s remarkable skill at creating the impression of several such voices chasing each other can only go so far, given the limitations of the single instrument; and so it is up to the listener to fill in the details of the contrapuntal interplay in their mind’s ear. This is hardly easy-listening music, in other words; if the suites admit us into their orbit as listeners, they seem to do so on the condition that we also do a bit of work. The sarabande offers a famous moment of stillness that once again bids the performer to make the physical challenges of the left hand moving across the fingerboard disappear beneath an aural effect of a perfectly smooth legato line. The piece spins out a series of falling sigh motifs that combine into longer phrases inexorably heading downwards toward their cadential resting places—except for the final gesture of the piece, which suddenly reverses the motion to let the melody drift away into the ether. The ensuing gavotte brings us firmly back down to earth, however, with a hearty bounce in its step emphasized by frequent double and triple stops on the two main beats of the bar.

from notes by Bettina Varwig © 2019

Le concept principal constitutif de cette suite—la «scordatura» mentionnée plus haut—est largement caché à l’auditeur, mais il peut perturber le sens des doigtés usuels de l’instrumentiste et jeter le trouble dans les sons qu’il produit: elle oblige l’interprète à apprendre à connaître son instrument d’une manière assez nouvelle. La modification de l’accord a aussi un effet tangible sur la résonance, les timbres et les couleurs des sons harmoniques de l’instrument. Le prélude est le seul du recueil qui adopte le style de l’ouverture à la française, avec une lente section initiale présentant de riches accords de quatre notes et des motifs pointés imposants. Vient ensuite une large section fuguée plus rapide, où l’invitation de Bach à imaginer les éléments manquants en matière harmonique et de conduite des voix est peut-être la plus pressante. Par nature, le genre de la fugue exige la participation d’au moins deux voix présentant le même thème l’une après l’autre. Le talent remarquable de Bach pour créer l’impression que plusieurs de ces voix se pourchassent a des limites, à cause des ressources restreintes de l’instrument; il revient donc à l’imagination de l’auditeur d’ajouter les détails de l’interaction contrapuntique. Autrement dit, il ne s’agit certainement pas d’une musique facile à écouter; si les suites nous admettent comme auditeurs dans leur orbite, c’est apparemment à condition que nous fassions aussi un bout de chemin. La sarabande apporte un célèbre moment de calme qui oblige une fois encore l’interprète à faire oublier les difficultés physiques de la main gauche traversant la touche sous un effet auditif d’une ligne legato parfaitement fluide. Cette pièce fait durer une série de motifs descendants gémissants et entremêlés dans des phrases plus longues qui descendent vers leur dernière demeure cadentielle—sauf le dernier geste de la pièce, qui renverse soudain le mouvement pour laisser la mélodie dériver dans l’éther. La gavotte qui suit nous ramène fermement sur terre, mais avec un allant chaleureux dans la démarche souligné par de fréquentes doubles et triples cordes sur les deux principaux temps de la mesure.

extrait des notes rédigées par Bettina Varwig © 2019
Français: Marie-Stella Pâris

Das prägendste Element dieser Suite—die oben genannte „scordatura“-Stimmung—bleibt dem Zuhörer weitgehend verborgen, kann jedoch die gewohnten Fingersätze des Spielers und die damit verbundenen Klänge über den Haufen werfen: der Ausführende wird hier dazu gezwungen, sein Instrument in ganz neuer Weise kennenzulernen. Das Umstimmen wirkt sich auch spürbar auf die Resonanz, Timbres und Obertonklangfarben des Instruments aus. Das Prélude sticht insofern heraus, als dass es als einziges Prélude der Cellosuiten im sogenannten französischen Ouvertüren-Stil geschrieben ist, mit einem langsamen Eröffnungsteil, in dem üppige Vierton-Akkorde und stattliche punktierte Motive dargeboten werden. Darauf folgt ein schnellerer, ausladender fugaler Abschnitt, wo Bachs Aufforderung, die fehlenden Elemente des harmonischen Gerüsts und der Stimmführung zu imaginieren, vielleicht am dringlichsten ist. Eine Fuge erfordert naturgemäß mindestens zwei Stimmen, die nacheinander dasselbe Thema vorstellen. Selbst Bachs bemerkenswerte Fähigkeit, den Eindruck von mehreren solchen Stimmen zu erzeugen, die einander verfolgen, hat aufgrund der Einschränkungen des Instruments ihre Grenzen; so muss also der Zuhörer selbst gewisse Details im kontrapunktischen Zusammenspiel im Geiste hinzufügen. Es handelt sich damit kaum um „Easy Listening“—wenn die Suiten uns als Zuhörer in ihre Sphäre einlassen, so scheint das unter der Voraussetzung zu geschehen, dass wir ebenfalls etwas beisteuern müssen. Die Sarabande bietet einen berühmten Augenblick der Stille, in dem der Ausführende wiederum gehalten ist, die physischen Herausforderungen der sich über das Fingerbrett bewegenden linken Hand hinter dem akustischen Eindruck einer völlig geschmeidigen Legato-Linie verschwinden zu lassen. Es entspinnen sich mehrere fallende Seufzermotive, die sich zu längeren Phrasen verbinden und unerbittlich die Endpunkte der Kadenzen in der Tiefe ansteuern—mit Ausnahme der Schlussgeste des Stücks, bei der die Bewegung plötzlich umgekehrt wird und die Melodie in den Äther entschwinden kann. Die sich anschließende Gavotte I bringt uns nachdrücklich auf die Erde zurück, allerdings mit federnden Schritten, die von den häufigen Doppel- und Dreifachgriffen auf die beiden Hauptzählzeiten fallen.

aus dem Begleittext von Bettina Varwig © 2019
Deutsch: Viola Scheffel

Other albums featuring this work

Bach: Cello Suites
SIGCD0912CDs Download only
Bach: The Cello Suites
Studio Master: CDA68261/22CDsStudio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
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