Les suites pour violoncelle arrangées pour violon

Description

The Cello Suites played on the violin? Why not. Bach was known for adapting his music for different instruments, different objects within the same cosmos of notes, but transitioning from the large body of the cello to the smaller volume of the violin presents challenges: the cello's naturally long resonance must be reinvented in the art of prolonging sound on gut strings that are more suited to the exercise than those of modern violins. This is certainly what may have prompted Rachel Podger to "steal" the score from her fellow cellists. She makes it her own, rendering the experience not only exciting but also revealing a whole aspect of the six Suites: everything that must dance here bursts forth with an even more pronounced presence, so the challenge lies rather with the meditative pieces, where the violinist must invent a different way of expressing herself. She succeeds in shaping the sound into infinite nuances without ever touching on mannerism, phrasing as long as her bow allows, which further enhances their twilight nostalgia. An exception in the score is the Sixth Suite, which was written for a five-string cello, for which Rachel Podger uses a C string from a viola that resonates in the bass! This could be a curiosity, but it is nothing but poetry. Elsewhere, everything is carried by a solar grace, and the eloquent texts of these Six Suites seem to soar under this expressive bow, a marvel from which you will not be able to detach yourself. (Discophilia - Artalinna.com) (Jean-Charles Hoffelé)