Bach's Solo Violin Sonatas & Partitas
Bach's Solo Violin Sonatas & Partitas
The Gramophone Choice
Solo Violin Sonatas and Partitas, BWV1001-06
Rachel Podger vn
Channel Classics CCSSEL2498 (142' · DDD) Buy from Amazon
Hitherto we have heard Rachel Podger only in early chamber works and as Andrew Manze’s partner in Bach double concertos: here now, at last, is an opportunity to hear her on her own. And you couldn’t be more on your own than in Bach’s mercilessly revealing Solo Sonatas and Partitas, perhaps the ultimate test of technical mastery, expressiveness, structural phrasing and deep musical perception for a violinist. Playing a Baroque instrument, Podger challenges comparison with the much-praised and individual reading by Monica Huggett (Virgin): she has many of the same virtues – flawless intonation, warm tone, expressive nuances, clear understanding of the proper balance of internal strands – but her approach is sometimes markedly different. This is most obvious in the great D minor Chaconne, in which Huggett’s rhythmical flexibility worried some people, but in which Podger, here as elsewhere, while fully characterising the varied repetitions of the ground, is intent on building up the cumulative effect. One pleasing general feature of her playing, indeed, is her firm but unassertive rhythmic sense; others are the absence of any suspicion that technical difficulties exist (instead a calm control, as in the G minor’s Siciliano), her subtle phrasing (as in the B minor Corrente, with the fleetest of Doubles), the cross-rhythms of her G minor Presto and, most strikingly, the poetic feeling with which she imbues the initial Adagio of the G minor Sonata. She touches in chords lightly: though some might have been split downwards rather than upwards so as to preserve the continuity of a lower part (for example, in bar 5 of the B minor Allemande, bar 10 of the Chaconne and in the 18th and 19th bars of its major section). Her D minor Giga is stunning.
As a matter of tactics disregarding the printed order of the works, the second disc opens in the most effective way with a joyous performance of the ever-invigorating E major Preludio. At once we can recognise Podger’s splendid rhythmic and tonal vitality (not merely Bach’s marked terraced dynamics but pulsatingly alive gradations within phrases), her extremely subtle accentuations and harmonic awareness (note her change of colour at the move from E to C sharp major in bar 33), are all within total technical assurances. The Gavotte en Rondeau is buoyantly dance-like, and in the most natural way she elaborates its final statement (throughout the Partita her ornamentation is stylish and convincing). She takes the Giga at a restrained pace that allows of all kinds of tiny rhythmic nuances. Only a rather cut-up performance of the Loure detracts.
In the sonatas she shows other sterling qualities. She preserves the shape in the A minor Grave’s ornate tangle of notes; she judges to a nicety the balance of the melodic line against the plodding accompanimental quavers of the Andante; she imbues the C major’s Adagio with a hauntingly poetic musing atmosphere, and her lucid part-playing of its Fuga could scarcely be bettered. In the Fuga of the A minor Sonata, however, she unexpectedly allows herself considerable rhythmic freedom in order to point the structure. The final track is a stunning performance of the C major’s closing Allegro assai which would bring any audience to its feet.
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Solo Violin Sonatas and Partitas, BWV1001-06
Christian Tetzlaff vn
Hänssler Classic CD98 250 (126’ · DDD) Buy from Amazon
Christian Tetzlaff, always one of the most thoughtful, imaginative violinists, has obviously found Bach’s solo works a stimulating and rewarding challenge. Technically, he’s most impressive: using a modern bow, he can achieve, with each phrase, the kind of subtle give and take that’s normally the preserve of the best Baroque violinists. His chord playing, too, shows wonderful control; in the more densely polyphonic pieces – the Chaconne and the fugues in the three Sonatas – it seems there’s often little choice between aggressive accentuation and rhythmic distortion caused by spreading the chords. Tetzlaff, however, manages to avoid both pitfalls, with varied arpeggiation that never fails to take account of the music’s rhythmic requirements.
The performances have a remarkable air of spontaneity, the result of a pervasive rubato, especially notable in the ornamented opening movements of the first two Sonatas, and in the freer sections of the Chaconne. There’s a sense of line and balance that ensures that each departure from metronomic regularity sounds entirely natural, unlocking the music’s expressive potential. This is even felt when, in a few movements in the Partitas, the dance character suggests a more regular, metrical pulse. Apart from this, it’s notable how Tetzlaff realises the virtuosity of Bach’s violin writing – the moto perpetuo finales of the sonatas sound truly thrilling, full of temperament and fire.
Solo Violin Sonatas and Partitas, BWV1001-06
EMI 476811-2 (143' · DDD) Buy from Amazon
These works are brutally difficult to play, not least in securing accurate intonation and in minimising the disruptive effect of hacking out the three- and four-note chords but, given today’s Olympian standards, technical shortcomings may be tolerated only in performances that are musically relevatory.
Technically Perlman is beyond reproach; chords are traversed deftly and in the Adagio of Sonata No 3 skilfully subjugated to the melodic line, and his differentiation between marked pianos and fortes is very clear. There’s brilliance in the faster movements, delicacy in the galanteries, and except perhaps for the Allemande of Partita No 2, grave expressiveness in the slower ones; stylistic misfits are far fewer than those of, say, Sándor Végh or Nathan Milstein (1971), and all repeats are offered – usually with some changes of dynamics.
Bach with a fair degree of gloss maybe, but a version by one of today’s greatest violinists that’s justly popular.
Solo Violin Sonatas and Partitas, BWV1001-06
Alina Ibragimova vn
Hyperion CDA67691/2 (139’ · DDD) Buy from Amazon
Alina Ibragimova’s Bach comes as something of a revelation. The finesse we’ve previously admired in her playing is here combined with thoughtful stylistic awareness (she’s studied Baroque violin with Adrian Butterfield) and a distinctive, individual approach. She plays with very little vibrato, often none at all, so that variations in volume and colour all come from the bow, allowing her to present the musical shapes in a clear yet unemphatic way. She eschews the usual violinistic attempts, through big tone and heavy emphasis, to underline the grandeur of Bach’s designs; the Chaconne ends quietly, and the peroration of the Fugue in the Third Sonata, whose exposition returns to round the movement off, is achieved through a slight broadening of the tempo.
Ibragimova’s playing is uncommonly neat, with precise fingerwork and relaxed management of the bow; the virtuoso finale of the Third Sonata sparkles effortlessly while remaining for the most part at a piano dynamic. She plays unequal quavers in the Third Partita’s Minuet as naturally as if she’d grown up in the 18th century. And finally, all her stylishness and technical refinement is at the service of an ingrained understanding of the music; she makes us feel where the points of harmonic tension and emphasis are, and she’s able to do it without distorting the surface of the music.
Hearing this set, some listeners may miss a more vigorous, forceful character or long for a warmer tone and more sustained playing, but these airy, poised, deeply felt performances deserve to find wide appreciation.
Solo Violin Partitas Nos 2 & 3. Solo Violin Sonata No 3
Isabelle Faust vn
Harmonia Mundi HMC90 2059 (69’ · DDD) Buy from Amazon
Gone are the days when the choice for performances of the Solo Sonatas and Partitas was a simple one between modern style and instrument on the one hand and historically informed Baroque violin playing on the other. Nowadays there’s a whole range of approaches. Like Alina Ibragimova (see above), Faust – using a modern instrumental set-up and bow – employs little vibrato and employs the detailed marking of slurs in Bach’s autograph as a guide to phrasing and accentuation. But whereas Ibragimova’s performances are notable for their delicacy and intimate scale, Faust is bolder and more outgoing, introducing imaginative ornamentation into repeated sections. Quite often her playing allows a generous measure of rhythmic freedom – as in the Second Partita’s Sarabande, for example; at other times she’s concerned to maintain a strong momentum. The Chaconne is the most notable example of this: in her hands it sounds like the representation of a vast procession, moving forward inexorably.
The Third Partita’s Prelude has a similar onward drive that’s in no way mechanical – constantly varied bow strokes express perfectly the changes in harmonic speed and fluctuation of intensity. In short: Isabelle Faust has a magnificent grasp of this music. Hear her if you can!
Solo Violin Sonatas and Partitas, BWV1001-06
Viktoria Mullova vn
Onyx ONYX4040 (132’ · DDD) Buy from Amazon
Viktoria Mullova plays a gut-strung Guadagnini (in modern set-up) at low pitch, using a Baroque-style bow, so it’s with the period instrument Bach recordings that Mullova can be most usefully compared.
These are outstanding performances, however, whatever category they belong to. Mullova brings together several ideal qualities for a Bach player. Firstly, there’s a secure sense of style, apparent equally in the rhythm and character of each of the Partitas’ dances, and in the ornamented introductory movements of the first two Sonatas. Then there’s her superior, virtuoso’s technique, producing beautifully precise tuning and, in the fugal movements, finely controlled, varied and euphonious playing of the most densely polyphonic passages. To this we can add her deep musical understanding; by means of subtle emphasis and natural dynamic contrasts, she draws our attention to the beauty of Bach’s harmonic progressions and to the balance and grandeur of his designs. Even on the few occasions where Mullova isn’t entirely convincing the poise and sheer quality of the playing remain extremely persuasive.
