Bach Sonatas Partitas Enes

Tatty Theo and Carolyn Gibley, founder-cellist and harpsichordist of The Brook Street Band, perform the Sonatas for Viola da Gamba by J. S. and C. P. E. Bach, the first recording of these works to use a baroque cello. The Brook Street Band has easily earned its reputation as "the smartest new baroque band around (The Times). Among today's most notable Handel specialists, the group's founder, cellist , and harpsichordist, Carolyn Gibley, turn their attention for only the second time to the music of J. S. Bach as well as his son Carl Philip Emmanuel.

The six Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin by JS Bach are regarded by many as the greatest works for the violin ever written. They have been described as "legendary and monumental", "the profound work of genius" and "representing the very pinnacle of human achievement, a transcendence, through music, to another world". Demanding a technical mastery and innate musical understanding on the part of the soloist these works have been recorded by the most revered violinists of the past century. With this recording Richard Tognetti confirms his place as one of the world's finest violinists providing his own distinctive and unique interpretation of these beloved works.

Isabelle Faust has gone back to the original manuscript sources to offer us her versions of these iconic masterpieces of the violin repertoire. In Bach s time, music for solo instruments was still little explored territory, and his Sonatas and Partitas immediately established themselves as a benchmark, technically challenging and brimming with creativity.

Gidon Kremer has again recorded the Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin of Bach and while his facility and technical grace are intact, in this recording he appears to have been deeply influenced by his time with the moderns (Adams, Pärt, Schnittke, Piazzola, Glass, et al). For this listener it seems that studying and performing these contemporary composers' manipulation of sound and instrumental scope has enriched Kremer's thought about the perfection of Bach. Not everyone will agree with Kremer's approach to these works on this new recording, but for those who know Bach's solo violin pieces there are pleasures in store. Remaining technically suave and with a luxuriant tone, Kremer seems to be communicating with the psychological Bach, offering different tempi and more soulful approaches than those of his colleagues. The results are mesmerizing. Highly recommended.

No doubt many of you are wondering whether I should be recording Bach’s complete sonatas and partitas at the age of only 21. Perhaps I should have waited a bit longer? Well, patience has seldom been my strong point, and after all I have already waited a number of years for an opportunity to record these works. During the first six years of study with my teacher Ana Chumachenco, I studied the sonatas and partitas thoroughly, and first performed both cycles in their entirety in the Bach year 2000, during the course of two evenings at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival.
Julia Fischer

Sirkka-Liisa Kaakinen-Pilch is an unusually versatile violinist, predominantly known for her performance of period music but also excelling in many other styles and genres. Her position as concertmaster in the orchestra of Philippe Herreweghe is testament to her skill as an early music performer.

One of the most creative talents to emerge in the field of period performance over the last decade, Rachel Podger has established herself as a leading interpreter of the music of the Baroque and Classical periods.