Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007
[18:08]
(1 Prelude [2:47]; 2 Allemande [5:00];
3 Courante [2:28]; 4 Sarabande [2:57];
5 Minuet I and II [3:27]; 6 Gigue [1:30])
Suite No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1008
[20:13]
(7 Prelude [3:42]; 8 Allemande [3:43];
9 Courante [2:01]; 10 Sarabande [4:55];
11 Minuet I and II [3:18]; 12 Gigue
[2:34])
Suite No. 6 in D Major, BWV 1012
[33:35]
(13 Prelude [5:27]; 14 Allemande [8:52];
15 Courante [3:52]; 16 Sarabande [5:48];
17 Gavotte I and II [5:00]; 18 Gigue
[4:37])
Suite No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1009
[22:50]
(1 Prelude [3:58]; 2 Allemande [3:45];
3 Courante [3:10]; 4 Sarabande [4:43];
5 Bourrée [I and II 4:14]; 6
Gigue [2:59])
Suite No. 4 in E flat major,
BWV 1010 [26:04]
(7 Prelude [5:20]; 8 Allemande [4:39];
9 Courante [3:34]; 10 Sarabande [4:26];
11 Bourrée I and II [5:24]; 12
Gigue [2:40])
Suite No. 5 in C minor, BWV 1011
[28:08]
(13 Prelude [6:30]; 14 Allemande [6:57];
15 Courante [2:14]; 16 Sarabande [4:41];
17 Gavotte I and II [5:08]; 19 Gigue
[2:33])
"Nothing in the
world is more precious to me than these
suites". So commented the great
Russian cellist Rostropovich as he reflected
on a lifetime of association with these
works although he did not record them
as a complete cycle until he was 63.
This new release of
the six suites by Maria Kliegel shares
two ironies.
It is hard to conceive
that music, written around 1720, of
such creativity, grandeur and majesty
was so sadly neglected for many years
after the death of the composer. While
the Cello Suites suffered this along
with nearly all of his music, even when
a general revival of Bach’s music began
in the 19th century, they
were regarded as unimportant. That generation
prided itself on warm romanticism and
the Suites were considered too dry and
academic. It was Pablo Casals (1876-1973)
who restored them to their rightful
place in the repertoire.
Maria Kliegel is one
of the most prolific recording cellists
in the world, but her name is relatively
unknown!
Despite a personal
love and appreciation for the Cello
Suites, this writer would not routinely
sit down and listen to the entire cycle
because they can have a propensity for
inducing "aural fatigue".
However here the cycle is presented
as a live concert programme. On 10 June
2000 Peter Wispelwey performed the six
Suites at a concert in Sydney, Australia.
At another concert in that same city
the cycle was again performed but with
each suite played by a different cellist.
On the recorded music
scene cellists have made up for lost
time. There are more than fifty different
recordings of the Suites and this does
not include recordings of individual
Suites or those who have made multiple
recordings e.g. Paul Tortelier et. al.
recorded them twice and Mischa Maisky
has recorded them three times.
The listener has a
choice of standard or Baroque cello
and yet another type of cello appears
on some recordings of the Sixth Suite,
which Bach wrote for a five stringed
instrument perhaps the violoncello
piccolo. The fact that Bach required
the bottom strings to have the same
normal rich tones may discredit this
assumption.
As is the general case,
for most who have fallen in love with
this specific music, a favourite version
will invariably exist. Of the dozen
or so versions in this writer’s collection
that of Mischa Maisky, conveying a strength,
majesty and grandeur which reflect the
intrinsic nature of the original compositions,
holds special favour. Maisky has recorded
the cycle three times and it is the
second, DG 445 373-2, which holds special
appeal. A close second is the recording
on Baroque cello by Jaap Ter Linden
- Harmonia Mundi 90721677 .
With this in mind we
now refocus on the specific subject
of this review - the latest recording
by Maria Kliegel. Her long list of recordings
for Naxos provides unequivocal evidence
of both high technical competence as
well as musical excellence, and in the
Bach cello suites she does not "blot
her copybook".
Particularly conspicuous
from the first note of the First Suite’s
Prelude is the beauty of her cello -
"ex-Gendron" made by Stradivarius
in 1693. For more than thirty years
this same cello was owned by Maurice
Gendron and placed at the disposal of
Ms. Kliegel by the Foundation for Arts
and Culture, in North Rhine Westphalia.
This fine instrument has a rich "chocolatey"
bass with middle and upper registers
of great clarity and definition.
It is within the Fifth
Suite that we experience significant
departure from the written and performed
norm. Per se this suite is atypical
requiring scordatura, in this instance
a retuning of the A string down to G.
Adaptation to exclude this is possible
but some compromise in chordal spacing
occurs
In the Kliegel version
pizzicato, or plucking of the strings
with the right hand fingers, occurs
in the Sarabande movement. In none of
the twelve or so versions reviewed is
this present nor is it part of the original
music appearing in the hand of Anna
Magdalena. While "purists"
will have apoplexy it is a most pleasing
interpretative innovation. Given that
within the entire cycle the Sarabande
movement of the 5th Suite
is exclusively without a hint of double-stopping,
inclusion here has credibility.
Overall this recording
is a very musical and enjoyable rendition.
However in the demanding opening bars
of Gavotte I from the 6th
Suite I must admit preference for other
versions which exhibit better legato
e.g. Alexander Rudin (Naxos 8.555992-93)
who plays a five string cello for which
the 6th Suite was especially
written. Rostropovich and Maisky both
manage smoother renditions on the standard
cello.
One small grizzle -
why can’t Naxos record these suites
sequentially on two discs? There is
ample evidence from other companies
that this is possible; not to mention
more convenient for the listener.
Whether you are an
insatiable Bach cello suite "nut"
who cannot resist new quality additions
to the catalogue or a neophyte embarking
on a new musical odyssey, this recording
holds something special for you.
Zane Turner
see also review
by Paul Shoemaker
Maria Kliegel (cello) 
