Bach, J S: Cello Suite No. 2 in D minor, BWV1008 - download (MP3 & FLAC)

Swiss ‘cellist Frédéric Rosselet plays subtly and athletically. He is not a performer who shows off at every opportunity; his is a higher aesthetic. The technical prowess you will hear on this recording rivals the great virtuosi and his recording is on a grand scale. He uses this skill tastefully and reservedly. Frédéric plays two different 'cellos in this recording. A modern ‘cello, which he plays in the pieces by Berio, Ligeti and Dutilleux, made about 130 years ago by a student of Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume. For the two Bach suites, Frédéric chose a glorious instrument configured as they would have been played in the Baroque era, without a peg, a lighter sound post on the interior of the instrument, gut strings and a Baroque bow.

Frédéric took First Place in Bach Solo Strings Competition & Thornton Concerto Competition with the Lutoslawski ‘cello concerto.

For which instrument did Bach actually write his six suites for unaccompanied violoncello? Ramée propose that Bach himself may have been the first player of these two great cycles of solo compositions.

Whilst no single source mentions that Bach played the violone or viola da gamba, he is known to have been a capable violinist and viola-player. Bach possessed several violoncello piccolos, with both four and five strings, made by Johann Christian Hoffmann, a contemporary in Leipzig. This suggests that the appropriate type of violoncello for Bach’s suites is that made by Hoffmann, and that, when played on the arm ("da spalla") like a violin, the number of unavoidable shifts is no more than average for baroque music. A violin or viola player can rapidly become accustomed to the fingering, which is almost identical to that of the violin.

The present recording suggests a fascinating and convincing interpretation of the Six Cello Suites on violoncello da spalla by Dmitry Badiarov, one of the leading figures in the reconstruction of this instrument, and one of its most promising players.