Virtuosi Of The Bow - Bach: 6 Cello Suites / Casals

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Casals's classic rendition of the Bach suites have been available in every conceivable format since the 1930s but never before in such truthful sound. Transfer engineer Seth Winner brilliantly captures the cellist's rounded tone in all its glory--compare the amusical nasality of EMI's reissue of the suites. Pearl's retention of surface noise may annoy, but it's necessary to preserve overtones. A delightful bonus is 20-plus minutes of Casals' Bach transcriptions. The deeply heartfelt performances are big-boned and romantic in style, capable of moving listeners as today's light-footed period performances cannot. They dance, but with a tread heavier than we've become accustomed to, so newcomers may need to adjust. Believe me, the effort's worth it. Stylistic niceties are irrelevant in the face of such golden-toned intensity. --Dan Davis

Virtuosi Of The Bow - Bach: 6 Cello Suites / Casals, Music, Pablo Casals, Johann Sebastian Bach, Blas Net, Nikolai Mednikoff, Otto Schulhof, Nikolai Mednikoff, Blas Net, Otto Schulhof, Baroque Suite/Partita for Orchestra, Cello Solo, Chamber, Chamber Music & Recitals, Classical, Classical Composers, Classical Music, Keyboard, Music for Organ, Orchestral, Solo Voice(s) and Small Ensemble, Suite/Partita for Keyboard, Violin Solo, Vocal
Virtuosi Of The Bow - Bach: 6 Cello Suites / Casals
Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • Classic Bach, best transfer.
  • Important historical document, but for Bach look elsewhere
  • The disk opens a window on a great performer and man
 Virtuosi Of The Bow - Bach: 6 Cello Suites / Casals
Pablo Casals , Blas Net , Otto Schulhof , and Nikolai Mednikoff
Manufacturer: Pearl
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

All Works by J.S. BachAll Works by J.S. Bach | Bach, Johann Sebastian | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
SuitesSuites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
Chamber MusicChamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
General ModernGeneral Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
OrganOrgan | Keyboard | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music
CelloCello | Strings | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music
ViolinViolin | Strings | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music
Casals, PabloCasals, Pablo | ( C ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Songs & Lieder | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00000IYOB
Release Date: 1999-05-18

Tracks:

  1. Toccata, Adagio And Fugue In C Major, BMV 564: Adagio
  2. English Suite No. 6 In D Minor, BMV 811: Gavottes I And II (Musette)
  3. Komm, Susser Tod', BWV 478
  4. Sonata No. 2 In A Minor For Violin Alone: Adante, BVW 1003
  5. Ouverture No.3 In D Major, BWV 1068: Air ('Air On The G String')
  6. Concerto For Organ No.5 In D Minor, After Vivaldi, Op. 3, no. 11, BWV 596: Largo (Vavaldi: 'Intermezzo') Suite No. 3 In C Major For Cello Alone
  7. Concerto For Organ No.5 In D Minor, After Vivaldi, Op. 3, no. 11, BWV 596: Prelude
  8. Concerto For Organ No.5 In D Minor, After Vivaldi, Op. 3, no. 11, BWV 596: Allemande
  9. Concerto For Organ No.5 In D Minor, After Vivaldi, Op. 3, no. 11, BWV 596: Courante
  10. Concerto For Organ No.5 In D Minor, After Vivaldi, Op. 3, no. 11, BWV 596: Sarabande Bourrees I & II
  11. Bourees I & II: Bourree I
  12. Bourees I & II: Bourree II
  13. Bourees I & II: Bourree I
  14. Bourees I & II: Gigue
  15. Suite No. 2 In D Minor For Cello Alone, BWV 1008: Prelude
  16. Suite No. 2 In D Minor For Cello Alone, BWV 1008: Allemande
  17. Suite No. 2 In D Minor For Cello Alone, BWV 1008: Courante
  18. Suite No. 2 In D Minor For Cello Alone, BWV 1008: Sarabande
  19. Minuetto I & II: Minuetto I
  20. Minuetto I & II: Minuetto II
  21. Minuetto I & II: Minuetto I
  22. Minuetto I & II: Gigue
  23. Suite No. 1 In G Major For Cello Alone, BWV 1007: Prelude
  24. Suite No. 1 In G Major For Cello Alone, BWV 1007: Allemande
  25. Suite No. 1 In G Major For Cello Alone, BWV 1007: Courante
  26. Suite No. 1 In G Major For Cello Alone, BWV 1007: Sarabande Minuetto I & II
  27. Minuettos I & II: Minuetto I
  28. Minuettos I & II: Minuetto II
  29. Minuettos I & II: Minuetto I
  30. Minuettos I & II: Gigue

Tracks:

  1. Suite No. 6 In D Major For Cello Alone, BWV 1012: Prelude
  2. Suite No. 6 In D Major For Cello Alone, BWV 1012: Allemade
  3. Suite No. 6 In D Major For Cello Alone, BWV 1012: Courante
  4. Suite No. 6 In D Major For Cello Alone, BWV 1012: Sarabande
  5. Gavottes I & II: Gavotte I
  6. Gavottes I & II: Gavotte II
  7. Gavottes I & II: Gavotte I
  8. Gavottes I & II: Gigue
  9. Suite No. 4 In E Flat Major For Cello Alone, BWV 1010: Prelude
  10. Suite No. 4 In E Flat Major For Cello Alone, BWV 1010: Allemande
  11. Suite No. 4 In E Flat Major For Cello Alone, BWV 1010: Courante
  12. Suite No. 4 In E Flat Major For Cello Alone, BWV 1010: Sarabande
  13. Bourrees I & II: Bourree I
  14. Bourrees I & II: Bourree II
  15. Bourrees I & II: Bourree I
  16. Bourrees I & II: Gigue
  17. Suite No. 6 In C Minor For Cello Alone, BWV 1011: Grave
  18. Suite No. 6 In C Minor For Cello Alone, BWV 1011: tres vite
  19. Suite No. 6 In C Minor For Cello Alone, BWV 1011: Allemande
  20. Suite No. 6 In C Minor For Cello Alone, BWV 1011: Courante
  21. Suite No. 6 In C Minor For Cello Alone, BWV 1011: Sarabande
  22. Gavottes I & II: Gavotte I
  23. Gavottes I & II: Gavotte II
  24. Gavottes I & II: Gavotte I
  25. Gavottes I & II: Gigue

Amazon.com

Casals's classic rendition of the Bach suites have been available in every conceivable format since the 1930s but never before in such truthful sound. Transfer engineer Seth Winner brilliantly captures the cellist's rounded tone in all its glory--compare the amusical nasality of EMI's reissue of the suites. Pearl's retention of surface noise may annoy, but it's necessary to preserve overtones. A delightful bonus is 20-plus minutes of Casals' Bach transcriptions. The deeply heartfelt performances are big-boned and romantic in style, capable of moving listeners as today's light-footed period performances cannot. They dance, but with a tread heavier than we've become accustomed to, so newcomers may need to adjust. Believe me, the effort's worth it. Stylistic niceties are irrelevant in the face of such golden-toned intensity. --Dan Davis

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Classic Bach, best transfer........2006-02-16

No, this is not a first choice for Bach's cello suites, obvious choices are performances by my fellow countrymen Wispelwey (Channel Classics) and Bijlsma (spelled without "y" and get his second recording on Sony). But yes, this is the classic account by Pablo Casals, who shows his enormous personality and commitment to these pieces. No lover of the cello suites would want to be without this.
As for transfers: EMI sounds hidious, Naxos acceptable. But the really good transfers are on the Japanese label Opus Kura and this one on Pearl. Since Pearl offers several transcriptions as encores - I warmly recommend this issue.

3 out of 5 stars Important historical document, but for Bach look elsewhere.......1999-12-07

No doubt we have to thank Casals for resurrecting the solo Cello Suites in the XXth Century, but we have come a long way in understanding Bach and the XVIII Century since the 1930's. I would recommend everyone Pieter Wispelwey exciting new recording in Channel Classics as a first choice, but there is also Anner Bylsma in SONY and Jaap ter Linden in Harmonia Mundi, all these cellist can take you to Bach's sound world, and will show you why Bach is SO important.

3 out of 5 stars The disk opens a window on a great performer and man.......1999-08-28

Pablo Casals was a noted cellist of the middle 20th Century, made more famous by his refusal to return to his native Spain while the Franco regime and its inheritors were in power. This disk is important because it opens a window for many who never heard Casals. He has an obvious reverence for music of Johann Sebastian Bach in particular. I never found Casals' cello style equal to his impressive personality in terms of musical excitement - though the limits of recording of his time affect perceptions of his playing today. I highly respect his ethics, and his unaffected approach to music. How many cellists today (besides Yo Yo Ma) feel they can afford to play other than technically demanding works? Casals, as we note, had no problem playing simple unaffected melodies. He did so without sentimentalizing them.

Track Listings:

  1. Vivaldi: Concertos Op.8
  2. Von DeUtscher Seele
  3. A Hilliard Songbook - New Music for Voices
  4. Adams: Grand Pianola Music [Import]
  5. Alma Latina: The Latin Soul of the Cello
  6. Americas
  7. BEETHOVEN: 'Diabelli' Variations / Sviatoslav Richter
  8. Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Op. 27/2, "Moonlight," Opp. 26, 27/1, & 49 [Enhanced]
  9. Bellini: I Capuleti e i Montecchi / Larmore, Hong, et al
  10. Berlioz: Messe Solennelle [Import]

Track Listings

track listings

Track Listings

Now [Import]

Sammartini: Memet

Tango Palace

Looking for America

Rock & Roll Queen Pt.1 [CD-single] [Import]

Teddy/It's Time for Love [Import]

The Girls and Boys on Broadway/The Sweetest Swingin' Sounds of "No Strings" [Import]

Rachmaninov: Cello Sonata, Transcriptions

Song Of The Crooked Dance: Early Bulgarian Traditional Music 1927-42

The Chicago Sessions

The Magnificent Tree

Romanticos

Presencia

The Rebirth of Kirk Franklin

Live at the Fairfield Halls, 1974