Bach, J S: Cello Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV1007 - download (MP3 & FLAC)

Considered as one of leading viola players worldwide, Antoine Tamestit decided to record Bach six Suites BWV1007-1012, in two volumes. This first volume presents Suites 1, 3 and 5 These universal and fascinating works have been Tamestit’s favorites almost for ever and those that made him switch from the violin to the viola when he was 10 years old!

Tamestit’s playing and the exceptional sound of his Stradivarius shed new light on those eternal masterpieces as he continues to develop an intense career through concerto, chamber and solo performances.

"When I discovered Bach's Cello Suites at the age of ten, they were such a revelation to me that I asked my violin teacher of the time if I could change instruments and switch to the cello. Having convinced me that, in that case, I would have to relearn virtually the entire technique of the instrument, she had the idea of showing me a viola and playing it for me. Another revelation, and love at first sight! After just a few days I put viola strings on my little violin, which sounded so deep, especially on the C string, that I felt the vibrations through my whole body. Since then I have never regretted choosing the viola, especially as I very soon had the opportunity to play transcriptions of those very Cello Suites. It was such a joy to me that I spent weeks just playing by ear a few bars of certain movements and begged my teachers to let me work on them." Antoine Tamestit

The young violist Maxim Rysanov makes his debut on BIS with three of Bach’s suites transcribed for viola by Simon Rowland-Jones.

Recognised as one of the world’s finest and most charismatic viola players, Maxim Rysanov performs worldwide as a concerto soloist and chamber musician. Rysanov is a past recipient of both the Classic FM Gramophone Young Artist of the Year and the BBC New Generation awards and is a prizewinner of the Geneva International Music Competition and Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition among others. Originally from the Ukraine, he studied with Maria Sitkovskaya in Moscow and with John Glickman in London, his adopted home town.

Within this highly varied selection of original compositions and transcriptions we move from Bach’s masterful First Cello Suite transcribed by Irina Kulikova, to Fernando Sor’s Fantaisie, an ingeniously structured work that is vital and energetic yet at times intimate. Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Sonata, written for his friend Segovia, is a witty homage to Boccherini, while Baroque and Broadway are the motors for California Suite by José María Gallardo del Rey.