Search - Bach, Kuijken :: Bach: Sonatas & Partitas, BWV 1001-1006, for solo violin

Period Instrumental Playing at its Best

Anna | Leeds, England | 01/25/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have both this and the Grumiaux recordings, and both are wonderful displays of musicianship and virtuosity. I would certainly recommend this performance as a musical treat in its own right, but the thing which stands out for me about this recording is the insight which listening to this on a period instrument brings. As a struggling violinist who has tried (unsuccessfully) to wrestle with large parts of the solo violin works, there are places where the mechanics of a modern violin make it near to impossible to get at the music. For instance, passages in the opening to the Chaconne have the tune in the bass, with two or three notes in the harmony above, which (with a modern instrument) offer two unsatisfactory options of playing the chord from the bass up, thus emphasising the harmony at the expense of the melody, or reversing the direction of the bow stroke, which (I feel) sounds a little odd. Kuijken, armed with a convex Baroque bow, is able to play all the notes at once, producing the sort of balance that I feel Bach must have intended.As for the overall performance, the tempos are just right (with a lovely balance between slower movements and the faster gigues- some of which "run away" in the Grumiaux performance), the playing is technically superb, and above all, the profundity of the music comes through."