[wkasimer]

Just to indicate how much personal taste enters into the matter, I attended a recital where she [Alisa Weilerstin] performed all six. I left before the end.

I attended a similar performance in Boston a couple of years ago. I think that the recording is better than her live performance, probably because the recording process is a lot less physically and mentally demanding than trying t play for two-plus hours from memory. By the time she got to the sixth suite in performance, the effort required was pretty apparent.

I think that I've posted favorites in previous threads, but the ones I turn to most often these days are Queyras, Geringas (his third recoding), Wispelwey (his second and third recordings), Schiff, Kirshbaum, and Casals. But I have about thirty versions on the shelf for variety....

 

[wkasimer]

It's a good book. Most of it is pretty non-technical, and even the technical parts are manageable. For the last part, though, in which Isserlis goes through each suite movement by movement, you will probably want to have a recording handy and go through it slowly.

 

[wkasimer]

I have both the Fournier and Bylsma sets. Not felt the need to buy other - any of Ma's, nor Rostropovich, which he should really have recorded twenty years earlier than he did.

Rostropovich did record them earlier - much earlier, in 1955:

I don't think that it changes my rather negative view of Rostropovich's Bach...

 

[wkasimer]

The set's detractors are mostly purists who complain that Kirshbaum mixes Baroque, Romantic, and Modern practices with impunity, which he does indeed do, but it's a complementary and musical mix to my ears.

The other issue with this recording is that there are some extramusical contributions by Kirshbaum, mostly audible breathing. It doesn't bother me at all - this is one of my favorite sets - but I feel obliged to point it out.

Glad to see that Dirge mentioned Bengtsson, an excellent cellist who deserves to be better known.

 

[wkasimer]

Sergey Malov

Glad to hear that someone else enjoys this one, which Malov plays on a "shoulder cello" (violoncello da spalla). He favors brisk tempi and omits a lot of the repeats (and when he observes repeats, he ornaments tastefully), which explains why he's able to fit all six suites on a single CD with plenty of room to spare.