Bach: Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin BWV1001-1006

Musicweb Recording of the Month January 2006

"Gidon Kremer's second complete recording of the six sonatas and partitas for solo violin is a radically new interpretation of them, not only at the level of technical and musical detail but in terms of the expressive qualities they bear. Not a phrase is left unthought. There is not a phrase that sounds routine. Passages of even quaver or semiquaver motion are "micro-phrased" in small groups of notes, irregular and asymmetrical as if following the curves of Bach's own handwriting, as if they were vocal in origin. It used to be a received wisdom that Bach wrote for voices as if they were instruments (and hence was a "bad" composer of vocal lines, true if one thinks of vocal music in the light of the bel-canto tradition) - after hearing this performance (and the Cello Suites recording by Jaap ter Linden) I now believe that Bach's instrumental music should be played as if sung, with breathing and the kinds of articulation and emphasis that are necessary if it is to be sung. Kremer makes the music sing and, even more so, speak to us but without prettifying or smoothing out the music's technical and expressive demands. I was left in awe and deeply, deeply moved by these performances, impeccably recorded in a rich and warm acoustic. For me this is the most radically "inauthentic" performance possible of these works but one which makes them sound fresh, urgent, new and communicative in new ways. To take just one example: Who would have thought that the first E natural (after many E flats) in the first piece could sound so much like a sharp pain? I highly recommend these performances even if you have other versions of the works (I have a couple of others now gathering dust on the shelves)." Keith (Marbecks Classical)

"Gidon Kremer's new performances of the Sonatas and Partitas are a reminder that J. S. Bach is the most contemporary of all composers. It seldom crosses the listener's mind that this is "Baroque" music; rather, Kremer taps into its eternal freshness and modernity, as if the ink on the manuscript was not yet quite dry. This is the violinist's second recording of these works, following his first by a quarter century. In the meantime, he has pursued a remarkably adventurous career, both in new music and old - a career that has surely left its mark on his Bach in many ways. Most of all, time seems to have made Kremer's approach more spontaneous and personal: Despite a certain austerity of mood, these are certainly not "objective" interpretations - there's no aspiration to historical accuracy here. But neither is there the least bit of romanticized sentiment. Kremer often emphasizes the music's jagged edges and does not disguise the harshness required to attack a three- or four-note chord. He also exploits the full range of the modern violin's dynamics and tone colors, but none of this ever feels like a distortion. By refusing to prettify Bach, Kremer realizes a greater quotient of the music's expressive beauty than many higher-gloss performances have managed, especially in the most highly charged movement of the cycle, the mammoth Chaconne from the Second Partita. There are plenty of classic recordings of the complete Sonatas and Partitas - from Milstein, Grumiaux, and Szeryng, to name a few familiar laureates - to document 20th-century perspectives. It was a foregone conclusion that Bach would cross over into the new millennium, and Kremer, bold and unique as ever, deserves credit for making it happen". Scott Paulin, Barnes & Noble

"Numerous alternative recordings of these works provides a wide choice and new ones appear with regularity. There is no one "best recording" and there never will be. Of the many this writer has heard and more than a dozen owned, the review discs compare more than favourably. All things considered if persuaded by a neophyte to recommend a version with outstanding diverse virtues, it would be this one. For aficionados a significant void will exist in their collection if this fine recording is not included. Highly recommended listening." Zane Turner

"…there is often an expressive intensity about his approach which leaves us in no doubt about the depth of his feelings" BBC Music