Rating: 2/5
Review:
Not an interpretation for me
I'm afraid I don't get on at all well with Sung-Won Yang's
recording of the Cello Suites. He is
plainly a fine cellist, but for me his interpretation of Bach is a long way
wide of the mark.
Technically, Yang is excellent and the sound he brings from
his cello is lovely. He is recorded in a
very resonant acoustic but it remains clear and distinct so the sonic effect is
very beautiful. However, I simply don’t
think that he gets Bach. As a couple of
examples, the Preludes to both the First and Third suites are taken largely at
breakneck speed – so much so that much the internal structure is indistinct and
lost, including those magnificent, moving wide arpeggios on the Third
Prelude. They also include some pretty
extreme rubato, almost skidding to a halt at the end of some phrases which I
found a distraction from the music rather than an enhancement. In the wondrous Sarabande of the Fifth Suite
there is some downward portamento so pronounced and inappropriate that it made
me physically wince…and so on.
Interpretation is a matter of personal taste, of course, and
others may respond better to this set, but I really don’t like it. There are many, many fine interpretations of
the Cello Suites available but I'm afraid that, for me, this isn’t one of them.
(Some of my personal favourites include David Watkin's
superb recent recording, Pierre Fournier, Steven Isserlis, Anne Gastinel…)
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