Bach: Violin Sonatas & Partitas / Kuusisto

$17.49
Label
BIS
Release Date
March 1, 2019
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      BACH, J.S.
    • PERFORMER
      Jaakko Kuusisto
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      March 01, 2019
    • UPC
      7318599921976
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      BIS-2197
    • LABEL
      BIS
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      2
    • GENRE
      Classical
    Works ⌄

    1. I. Adagio

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Performer: Jaakko Kuusisto

    2. II. Fuga: Allegro

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Performer: Jaakko Kuusisto

    3. III. Siciliana

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Performer: Jaakko Kuusisto

    4. IV. Presto

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Performer: Jaakko Kuusisto

    5. I. Allemanda

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Performer: Jaakko Kuusisto

    6. II. Double

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Performer: Jaakko Kuusisto

    7. III. Corrente

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Performer: Jaakko Kuusisto

    8. IV. Double: Presto

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Performer: Jaakko Kuusisto

    9. V. Sarabanda

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Performer: Jaakko Kuusisto

    10. VI. Double

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Performer: Jaakko Kuusisto

    11. VII. Tempo di Bourrée

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Performer: Jaakko Kuusisto

    12. VIII. Double

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Performer: Jaakko Kuusisto

    13. I. Grave

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Performer: Jaakko Kuusisto

    14. II. Fuga

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Performer: Jaakko Kuusisto

    15. III. Andante

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Performer: Jaakko Kuusisto

    16. IV. Allegro

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Performer: Jaakko Kuusisto

    17. I. Allemande

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Performer: Jaakko Kuusisto

    18. II. Courante

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Performer: Jaakko Kuusisto

    19. III. Sarabande

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Performer: Jaakko Kuusisto

    20. IV. Gigue

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Performer: Jaakko Kuusisto

    21. V. Ciaccona

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Performer: Jaakko Kuusisto

    22. I. Adagio

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Performer: Jaakko Kuusisto

    23. II. Fuga

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Performer: Jaakko Kuusisto

    24. III. Largo

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Performer: Jaakko Kuusisto

    25. IV. Allegro assai

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Performer: Jaakko Kuusisto

    26. I. Preludio

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Performer: Jaakko Kuusisto

    27. II. Loure

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Performer: Jaakko Kuusisto

    28. III. Gavotte en rondeau

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Performer: Jaakko Kuusisto

    29. IV. Menuet I and II

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Performer: Jaakko Kuusisto

    30. V. Bourrée

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Performer: Jaakko Kuusisto

    31. VI. Gigue

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Performer: Jaakko Kuusisto


There are many questions surrounding Johann Sebastian Bach’s ‘Six Solos for violin’, or the Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin, as they are usually called today. When did he compose them, and why, and for whom? In what circumstances were they performed? And why would a master of polyphony choose to write for a melody instrument with limited scope for polyphony or chords? We can only guess at the answers – which makes the works all the more fascinating. The legendary violinist George Enescu famously described the set as ‘the Himalayas of violinists’, but for more than 200 years they were primarily regarded as pedagogical exercises rather than compositions worthy of the concert hall. Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann tried to popularize them by making versions with piano accompaniment, while Busoni did away with the violin altogether in his transcription of the famous Chaconne from Partita No. 2. But since Yehudi Menuhin made the first complete recording of the Sonatas and Partitas, between 1929 and 1936, they have become a staple during violin recitals, on disc and in concert. Fascinating performers and audiences alike with their architectural perfection as well as their emotional range, these are works that lend themselves to very different interpretations, and on this recording it is the Bach of Finnish violinist Jaakko Kuusisto we hear. Himself a composer – as well as violinist and conductor – Kuusisto remembers beginning to study individual movements from the set at the age of ten. The music has been with him ever since, and to him ‘no other works for the violin provide a higher challenge or greater beauty’.

REVIEW:

Kuusisto plays with an offhanded, technical nonchalance, as if there were neither any of the traditional expectations or technical hurdles to overcome. Everything sounds so organic and natural that listening becomes increasingly enjoyable. The musical detail can certainly be heard, yet Kuusisto does not force that conspicuously on the listener.

– Klassikheute.com (Germany)