Hydan Cello

J.S. Bach - The Cello Suites - Nina Kotova (2014) {Warner Classics Official Digital Download}
FLAC (tracks) - 16bit/44kHz - Official Digital Download (prestoclassical.co.uk) -> 765 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 323 Mb
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© 2014 Warner Classics / Nina Kotova
Classical / Baroque / Chamber Music / Cello

The very short list of credits on this Warner Classics release includes Russian American cellist Nina Kotova and producer Adam Abeshouse, who delivers a very closely miked sound in the frequently used Performing Arts Recital Hall of Purchase College on Long Island, New York. But perhaps the uncredited star on this set of Bach's Six Suites for solo cello is Kotova's 1679 Stradivarius instrument, which Kotova exploits to the maximum. Her reading is one of those in the line coming down from Pablo Casals, with a high degree of expressiveness generated through variations in tempo and articulation. Hear any of the concluding gigues, which come off like late Romantic witches' dances, for an example, or the increasingly unexpected relationships among the Gavotte sections in the Suite No. 6 in D major, BWV 1012 (CD 2, track 17).

Yo-Yo Ma Plays Cello Masterworks is an eight-CD box set of previously released material recorded in the 1980s and 1990s, and presumably so familiar to his fans that the package doesn't even come with a booklet. It really is a no-frills affair, right down to the thin cardboard sleeves that repeat the same photograph on the box, instead of offering original cover art. But the greatest disappointment is that only three of J.S. Bach's Six Cello Suites were included, so listeners seeking them should forego this budget package and find the complete suites, which Ma recorded twice.

Total of 95 tracks, approximately 7 hours and 26 minutes of recording time.
Bach: Cello Suite No. 1 - Prelude (Mork), Saint-Saëns: The Swan (du Pré), Piazzolla: Oblivion (Gautier-Capuçon), Tchaikovsky: Rococo Theme and Night Variations - Theme, Variation 1 (Isserlis, Gardiner), Vaughan Williams: Six Etudes on English Folk Songs - No. 2 (Eileen Croxford), and more.

The current popularity of Bach's six cello suites can be traced back to the Catalan cellist Pablo Casals, who was the first to include these pieces in the concert repertoire. The young violinist Jorge Jimenez, also Catalan, is a great admirer of the great cellist, coming only a few kilometres from Casals' birthplace. But Bach's cello suites already attracted attention in the 19th century, in the course of the Leipzig Bach Renaissance around Felix Mendelssohn. The violin virtuoso and teacher Ferdinand David made an arrangement for the violin. Jorge Jimenez uses this edition from 1866 for his interpretation. It contains unusually varied and for that time very precise indications for the performance of the music. For this version, entirely in the 19th century reading, Jorge Jimenez uses a romantic violin and a bow from the period. His extraordinary interpretation of Bach's cello suites is the second part of his series "Rethinking Bach", which Jimenez began with his own highly acclaimed arrangement of the Goldberg Variations for solo violin (PC 10434).