Best Version of Bach Cello Suites?

[Dandou]

I have a half a dozen versions of the Cello Suites. One of my favorites is the 2007 version by Jean-Guihen Queyras. 

 

I recommend listening to the 2019 violin transcription of the Suites by Rachel Podger. For me, it was a fresh, and very enjoyable rediscovery of the Suites. And the sound is great. 

 

 

[Dandou]

There were always been different kinds of transcriptions of the works of Bach. Violin concertos that were transcribed for keyboard, the Art of the Fugue, transcribed for string quartet or for orchestra… There's nothing wrong in that. 

[Dandou]

3 minutes ago, AnotherSpin said:

Maybe a lack of interest in a proper performance? I can't help you there. 

Had you read my full post, you would have noticed that I said that I have a half a dozen of recordings of the Cello Suites, and that one of my favorites is the 2007 recording by Jean-Guihen Queyras. 

[Dandou]

3 minutes ago, AnotherSpin said:

Was there any mention of a violin version?

Yes there was, because it's a good transcription for violin, and a great interpretation.

There's no obligation to listen to it. 

[Dandou]

If you really want to be pedantic, it is unclear for which instrument the suites were intended, and this is actually a matter of controversy. 

 

Quote from wikipedia: 

 

Recent research has suggested that the suites were not necessarily written for the familiar cello played between the legs (da gamba), but an instrument played rather like a violin, on the shoulder (da spalla). Variations in the terminology used to refer to musical instruments during this period have led to modern confusion, and the discussion continues about what instrument "Bach intended", and even whether he intended any instrument in particular. Sigiswald Kuijkenand Ryo Terakado have both recorded the complete suites on this "new" instrument, known today as a violoncello or viola da spalla;^[11] reproductions of the instrument have been made by luthier Dmitry Badiarov.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cello_Suites_(Bach)

 

Bach, himself, transcribed the fifth suite for lute. 

[Dandou]

30 minutes ago, AnotherSpin said:

Pedantic? I only prefer to listen Cello Suites performed on cello... :-) No need to tell modern instruments are not the same as in Bach's lifetime, but we're not going to re-ignite an endless dispute about modern vs HIP again, are we?

The instruments at the time of Bach were not exactly as today's. 

These suites are called "Cello suites", because the copy of Anna was titled "Suites à Violoncello Solo senza Basso (Suites for cello solo without bass)", which does not seem to designate precisely the cello as we know it today.

In the two other copies of the suites, even an earlier one than the one of Anna, there's no designation of the instrument at all. 

 

This work remained obscured during the centuries, and was popularized only in the 20th century by the recording of Casals on a modern cello. Since then, many other cellists recorded it, and there were also quite a lot of transcriptions for other modern and period instruments. 

[Dandou]

Excerpt from the PDF of the album in which Rachel Podger explains her choice: 

 

CELLO SUITES ON THE VIOLIN: LEGITIMATE OR LOONY?

 

I was lucky enough to grow up with Bach’s music around me, and so the Cello Suites became part of my regular listening diet as the ‘other’ Bach solo pieces ‘not written for the violin’. I secretly coveted these works quite early on, not least because I found many established cello performances – however celebrated the players – to be performed in a style and tempo which reduced the dance character to being something almost incidental. Then, later at music college, I heard a suite played on a baroque cello and the music suddenly made sense to me, and it came to life with the help of the lightness and bounce of the baroque bow playing on gut strings. It really was a revelation.

 

Since, I have spent a fair bit of time coaching cellists, both modern and baroque alike, and found myself playing along to demonstrate various points. Gradually, I could feel these pieces joining the violin partitas and sonatas as another kind of ‘daily bread’; I started catching myself playing some of the movements I particularly loved while warming up, and realising that it was actually possible to play them on the violin, and to find

a special expressive vocabulary at the higher pitch. How could one possibly justify it, especially with works that have peppered the recording catalogue with some of the most iconic and adored string performances of all time, the Casals, Fourniers, Torteliers or Starkers? But what I was doing also seemed very much in keeping with Bach’s own habit of recycling his own compositions for different instruments and different uses. The examples are endless but I immediately think of the concertos appearing as sinfonias in cantatas, or concertos for violins turned into harpsichord concertos. The more I reflect, the less I feel the need to be defensive because Bach did far more outrageous things! Think of the Prelude of the E major Partita for violin turned into a full orchestral cantata movement with trumpets and drums...