Great or interesting Bach interpretations

[Shaun Mahood]

I've been listening to a ton of Bach lately and was wondering what some of your favourite performances and interpretations were (especially of pieces that are playable on the guitar). This can also include some that are quite interesting or different, and not necessarily the ones you like the most. Extra points if the albums are easily available!
Here's some of mine.

I'm absolutely loving Paul Galbraith's Sonatas and Partitas album (2 CDs), though I'm not sure what I think of his Chaconne right now. It's 20 minutes long, which definitely fall into my "interesting" category. The rest of the album is stellar though - this is the album I'm listening to most often right now. His Lute Suites album is also great - it took a bit of doing to convince myself I needed to buy 3 CD's worth of material all on the same day, but I think these 2 albums would be lonely without the other to keep it company.

Jason Vieaux's Bach album is extremely good. I love the sound of the recording, and the playing and interpretation both sound great to me. No Chaconne on here, I'll be really happy to hear his version when he is ready to record it.

David Russell has a great album with a really good Chaconne on it. It's hard to say anything about it except that its really, really good.

Julian Bream, of course, plays some ridiculously good Bach. I'm sure he has a ton of albums with Bach, the two I have are "Julian Bream Plays Dowland and Bach" and "Julian Bream Plays J.S. Bach" - both amazing albums. I think everyone loves his Chaconne.

I sometimes think that I like one of these albums or players better than another, then I go and listen to any of the others - I wouldn't be able to choose if I was forced to get rid of one of them. Since I can't reduce my collection, I guess I'd better add to it!

I've also got an album of Jascha Heifetz playing Sonata No. 2 and Partita No. 2 - his Chaconne is amazing, I feel a little bit exhausted after listening to it, it does something to me that would be illegal if it was smoked or injected. I've listened to a few other violinists playing it, but I think you're doing yourself a disservice if you never hear his version. If you have one you like better, please post it here.

I found a recording yesterday of the Chaconne mixed with Christ lag in Todesbanden (BWV 4) for lute and voice, from the album "Bach: De Occulta Philosophia" performed by Jose Miguel Moreno (lute), Emma Kirkby (soprano), and Carlos Mena (countertenor). I really like the piece, it's definitely worth listening to. Only heard a chunk of it, since I'm having trouble convincing myself to buy the album for the one song (this stupid willpower is being a pain in the neck trying to get me to cut me expenses - at least I know it will be short lived). The rest of the album is performed on Baroque Lute, maybe that will be a good excuse to get it.

Well, I've just bought the album. I'll probably reply with what I think about it once I've given it a few listens. Just so you know, the time between this paragraph and the one before it contained an agonizing soul search about whether I wanted to save a bit of money more than I wanted some more Bach, and Bach won quite handily.

[Pragueguy]

Nice post. I think the Kazuhito Yamashita recordings of the lute, cello, and violin solo works are also very interesting. It doesn't mean I would myself elect to play each piece the same way, even if I could (which I obviously cannot) but very interesting nonetheless.

[Robert Phillips]

I've always liked John Williams' recording of the lute suites. I also like the way Eduardo Fernandez plays them, but I don't like the way they were recorded - the mic is so close that his playing sounds more aggressive than it actually is. But my favorite Bach recording of all time - in fact, I regard it as my "Desert Island CD" (if you were stranded on a desert island with only one CD...) is actually not a guitar recording. It is Glenn Gould's 1981 recording of the Goldberg Variations.

[Fugue]

Smahood, I agree with your assessments except for the last one, which I haven't heard! A few others to try:

Hubert Kappel's "Virtuoso Transcriptions" (has Bach's 6th Keyboard Partita: its playability is debatable!)
Eliot Fisk's Sonatas and Partitas
Jorge Caballero's Cello Suites 2,4, & 6
Kazuhito Yamashita's Sonatas, Partitas, and Lute Suites
Stephan Schmidt's Lute Suites (10-String guitar)
Philip Hii's Transcriptions (again, includes some keyboard pieces that some would argue are not that playable!)

Fisk, Hii, and Yamashita are intense, "high octane" performances, while Kappell, Caballero and Schmidt are a bit mellower but no less beautifully played.

[oski79]

Coincidentally, I've been listening to Yo Yo Ma's recordings of the Cello Suites the last few days. I think the cello performances sound quite a bit more emotional and nuanced than any guitar transcriptions I've heard.

We have a fine local guiatrist who plays Bach with somewhat more of a "romantic" bent than most. I don't imagine it appeals to those who like their Bach played with mathematical precision, but I've really become a fan of it. Within reasonable limits, of course.

[henry dumay]

Hi,
I have really enjoyed Enno Voorhorst's "J.S.Bach Guitar Transcriptions" (N a x o s).

Henry.......

[tgwilt]

One of the best interpretations of the chacone (IMHO) is Hilary Hahn's which can be found on you tube. She was quite young at the time.

[Luis_Br]

My favourites

On harpsichord:
Gustav Leonhardt
Pierre Hantai (amazing recording of Goldberg Variations, you find a video on Youtube);

Regular Violin:
Yehudi Menuhin (his recording of the sonatas)

Baroque Violin:
Rachel Podger (best Bach interpreter IMO)

Cello:
Antonio Meneses (great balance between rhythm pulse and "feeling")

Baroque Cello:
Anner Bylsma (amazing!, his 2nd recording of cello suites is the best)

Orchestra:
Tom Koopman (Orchestral Suites, Cantatas)
Trevor Pinnock (his last recording of the Brandenburg concertos is great)

Piano:
Rosalyn Turek
Sviatoslav Richer

6-string guitar:
Tilmann Hoppstock (on CD)
Pablo Marquez (live)

Multiple-string guitar:
Stephan Schmidt (on CD, 10-string guitar)
Paulo Marteli (live, 11-string guitar)

Lute:
Nigel North
Hopkinson Smith

[Allan]

On guitar, Martha Masters recording of BWV 996 on her N a x o s cd. Her style is beautiful, imaginative and powerfully understated, easily the most lyrical version I've heard of this oft-recorded suite.

On cello, Janos Starker rules.

[Nick Payne]

Filomena Moretti has recorded a couple of CDs of Bach on the Transart label. I don't like everything she does on the recordings, but she plays some of the pieces marvellously - eg the Allemande from BWV995.

My favourite recording of the Chaconne (on any instrument) is the one that Göran Söllscher recorded in the early 1980s for DG. He doesn't use the 11-string guitar on which he normally plays Bach, but plays the Segovia transcription on a six string guitar.

However, my all-time favourite recording of Bach is the disc that Martha Argerich recorded, also for DG in the early 1980s. The BWV911 Toccata, Partita No 2, and English Suite No 2.

[mae]

Under "interesting" :

Uri Caine Ensemble - Goldberg Variations

[Shaun Mahood]

I found a recording yesterday of the Chaconne mixed with Christ lag in Todesbanden (BWV 4) for lute and voice, from the album "Bach: De Occulta Philosophia" performed by Jose Miguel Moreno (lute), Emma Kirkby (soprano), and Carlos Mena (countertenor).

Note: they call this piece the Chaconne-Tombeau, which is much less wordy than my description above.

I've had a chance to listen to this piece a couple of times, and the rest of the album once. The rest of the album is good, although I probably wouldn't buy it after the first listen without the Chaconne-Tombeau. The album is very good, but I'm not a huge fan of the sound of the baroque lute as compared to the guitar.

On the other hand, I would happily pay more than the price of the album for the Chaconne-Tombeau by itself. So I'm very happy with my purchase, and if I ever run into an emergency requiring some baroque lute recordings, I've got it covered.

Also, the Stephan Schmidt that I've listened to this afternoon has been pretty amazing - that guy can really play!

P.S. I feel like a bit of a jerk quoting myself.

[Cary W]

Paris Saxophone quartet plays J.S. Bach. A simply gorgeous recording. One of the best interpretations ever of the Air from orchestral suite BWV 1068.

[kes]

For the lute suites, I like Kim Heindl - Aufs Lautenwerk, where he plays a replica of a lute harpsichord, you really get the impression that the lute suites are music supposed to be played on a keyboard, especially some of the ornamentation, and BWV998 Allegro, and BWV996-praeludio and presto.

I recently bought Jason Vieaux's Bach album and its currently my favourite interpretation - it is subtely romantic but not over the top.

I'm not a fan of Paul Galbraith's although I own one of his Bach albums, I just can't get past the over the top heavy breathing on the record, although its nice having most of the proper bass notes.

For violin, I love the Nathan Milstein 2nd recordings, they are re-mastered onto CD by decca. His chaconne is fabulous, and moving in a way that somehow a guitar cannot be (in my opinion anyway. The way he recorded was traditional preferring to get the whole thing right in one go, not liking having to cut and shut recordings, and I really respect that.

Although I tend to prefer Bream to Williams for most, I prefer John William's Bach album, which I think is played quite romantically and with feeling, like Jason Vieaux, not over the top.

I'm sure I have Eduardo Fernandez playing Bach too, but can't remember what that's like - my husband can't undestand the need for all the different versions of the same music. If I had to pick just one or two - Nathan Milstein and Jason Vieaux.
Kath

[Tanamá]

The Bach interpretations by Goran Sollscher are also excellent. I like his Preludes for BWV1007 and BWV 1006a are just perfect, in my opinion. Stephan Schmidt rendition of BWV 998 is also superb.

EGP