Bach: Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin, BWV 1001 - 1006

this is currently my favorite version of the bach violin solo pieces. i've been listening to several versions, comparing in particular partita 2 and sonata 3 in each version, including tetzlaff's own earlier cycle, ibragimova [3.5 star with a darker, soulful sound, but one that disturbs me the more i listen], kremer[4 star with idiosyncratic but wonderful variation in dynamics, rubato and attack], milstein [schmaltzy with vibrato], grumiaux [cleaner than milstein, but feels a bit similar], faust [delicate and light but a bit thin], st. john [manages to make bach sound dull].tetzlaff provides for me the cleanest, clearest, most beautiful, transparent and heartfelt rendition of bach's work.tetzlaff manages to make the music dance and sing. you don't hear phrases; you hear sentences and paragraphs. there is no effort to show off, to be virtuosic. the music speaks for itself: it is about bach, not about tetzlaff, and that is more than good enough.edit: i just played tetzlaff's and kremer's versions of the ciaccona for my wife. she plays a lot of bach on piano, but never heard these pieces. she remarked on tetzlaff's ability to make the voices flow, and even cross in the way she experiences voices crossing on the piano in numerous bach pieces. she said she really felt like she was listening to bach, not to someone interposing himself between the composer and the listener.edit2: i've still been listening to these and just compared it to tetzlaff's own earlier recording, as well as the others. in this, second tetzlaff cycle he manipulates the qualities of the sound so that one can follow the contrapuntal voices bach cleverly suggests in writing for this singl-voiced instrument. you hear the two, sometimes three, lines very clearly in this recording of tetzlaff's. i don't think the same can be said about any other version

Here is Christian Tetzlaff returning to Bach's solo sonatas and partitas in 2006, the year is turned forty. The only other living violinist to make two recordings, Gidon Kremer, was much older the second time around. Given how expressive and personal Kremer's Bach is - growing more so in the remake for ECM - it would be hard to see how Tetzlaff's purist approach is similar. (Newcomers should also be warned that Kremer makes a point of scraping the strings in double and triple stops, as if unlovely sounds are part of his artistic integrity. Tetzlaff never makes an unlovely sound.)I agree with almost everything else Scott Morrison says in his lead review, but as a matter of taste, Tetzlaff's ease and fluency, for me, approach anonymity in his first recording from 1993. that was a set of sonatas and partitas that made a point of being non-interpretative and restrained for the sake of technical perfection. The second time around, Tetzlaff feels more involved, although his interpretive gestures fall short of arch individualists like Kremer and Sergey Khachatryan, not to mention the much more free-wheeling older generations. He is more or less the reincarnation of the impeccably refined Nathan Milstein.Tetzlaff has created some discussion by preferring a modern instrument. I spent a bit of time looking into the argument for and against old violins, and the upshot is that almost every great violinist still wants a Strad or Guarneri, but in blind listening even experienced fanciers of the violin do not unanimously prefer the Stradivarius and cannot consistently pick it out. The subject is a much-vexed one but fascinating to follow.Thanks to the abundance of online music sites, one can instantly compare Tetzlaff's two sets, early and late. I think there's a good deal of difference, actually. Right now I'm listening to the Fuga from the first sonata, and his sound, phrasing, and articulation are markedly more pointed and period-influenced in the second set. Since I resist period style, at first this annoyed me, but I now find that there's more consistent variety and interest to be found in the second set. To take another example, the Siciliana from the first sonata has gained in personality quite significantly - apparently we can have this along with period style.Sound counts a lot in solo violin recordings, and on the first set Tetzlaff is recorded at a certain distance with room ambience while on Hanssler we are up close, almost next to his chin, with little resonance from the room. This adds a certain intensity and involvement, also.

Perfect. Love these pieces and he does them justice. Recommended and on of the best cycles I own.

the best performance. the best recording. you must hear this to appreciateBACH

Bought this CD, based on a review in a magazine. Tetzlaff is an amazing talent. Even if you're not a Bach fan, he can make these pieces exciting and very interesting.

Already a treasured item in my collection I gave it to my son so that he could experience The sound of Bach by an interpreteof Tetzlaff's genius.r

Habe den Solisten live gehört und wußte, dass die CD sehr gut ist. Diese Aufnahme kann ich nur jedem Bachliebhaber weiterempfehlen.