In Reply to: Fournier on Bach posted by banpuku on January 3, 2017 at 18:54:58:
Of the dozen or so sets that I have, my favorite is the Zelenka set mentioned by musetap below. I'm also very fond of Truls Mork on Virgin. Both these sets emphasize the dance feel of the suites without becoming mechanical.
Casals is indispensable for historic reasons, but I almost never actually listen to it.
I have one recording that was made in a medieval French abbey. I'm at work now and can't remember/can't check the name of the cellist, but it's not a household name. The performance quality is adequate though not great, but the resonant acoustic is very satisfying.
Edgar Meyer recorded Suites 1, 2 and 5 on the double bass, which is an amazing feat and very cool to listen to.
Sets I have and don't care much for:
Matt Haimovitz: self-indulgent and emotional. What you might expect to hear if Young Werther was a cellist.
Yo-Yo Ma's 1983 set: this was my imprint set, but it now sounds mechanical and dry. Same problem with Zuill Bailey.
Janos Starker on Mercury, Steven Isserlis on Hyperion and Jaap ter Linden on Brilliant (from the Big Box of Bach): nothing particularly wrong with any of these, but they never seem to find their way to the top of my pile.
I'm sure I'm forgetting something...
Happy listening,
Jim
"The passage of my life is measured out in shirts."
- Brian Eno
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Follow Ups
- RE: Fournier on Bach - jec01 12:10:30 01/04/17 (1)
- The French guy I couldn't remember - jec01 18:01:33 01/04/17 (0)