Bach Suites Violoncelle

This set includes two of the rarest and hardest to find of all recordings: the 1958-59 version of the Bach Cello Suites by Janos Starker – the one everyone says his later recordings cannot match – and the extremely beautiful performance of Bach's unaccompanied violin sonatas and partitas – the one that Japanese collectors pay 3-digit dollar prices for – in outstanding EMI Digital Re-Masterings.

Ophelie Gaillard has made recently a deep impression with the Suites for cello solo by Jean-Sebastian Bach. On this new recording, dedicated to the Cantor of Leipzig, she gathered her close team from the Pulcinella Ensemble and invited some of the most talented soloists: Sandrine Piau, Emiliano Gonzalez Toro, Christophe Dumaux. This programme gives a vision of the most beautiful cantatas written by Jean-Sebastian Bach in Leipzig from 1723 to 1750, interspersed with some of the masterpieces from the 'Schübler' Chorales and Orgelbüchlein. With a passion for Baroque music played on period instruments, Pulcinella is a group of virtuoso soloists, gathered in a chamber spirit around cellist Ophélie Gaillard.

Johann Sebastian Bach's sonatas for viola da gamba and obbligato harpsichord belong to those central works of the gamba repertory with which every generation, every ambitious player, must come to terms anew. Their technical demands and compositional complexity make the sonatas' interpretation a delicate task and, at the same time, a major challenge.

Cette petite chronique d'Anna Magdalena Bach, parue anonymement en Angleterre et en Allemagne et traduite dans presque toutes les langues, a obtenu partout un succès considérable. Il faut l'attribuer à l'intérêt passionné que suscitent la musique et l'oeuvre de Jean-Sébastien Bach et surtout au fait que ce petit livre, si émouvant et si exact, s'inspire du plus bel amour qui ait jamais été vécu. …

One of the best-known cellists of his generation and of the recording era overall, Yo-Yo Ma is recognized not only for his technical virtuosity but for his engaging interpretative ability, whether the tone is delicate, plaintive, playful, or impassioned. After breaking through with a collection of Bach cello suites in 1983, his ambitions and his appeal stretched far beyond the classical sphere via popular collaborations with such artists as jazz vocalist Bobby McFerrin (1992's Hush) and bluegrass musicians Stuart Duncan and Chris Thile (2011's The Goat Rodeo Sessions).