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Track Listings
| 1. Partita II in D Minor, BWV1004 - Isabelle Faust |
| 2. Sonata in C Major, BWV 1005 - Isabelle Faust |
| 3. Partita III in E Major, BWV1006 - Isabelle Faust |
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Review
Sigiswald Kuijken's pioneering recording in 1981 is at the vanguard of a steady stream of fine baroque violinists, like Monica Huggett, John Holloway, Lucy van Dael, and Rachel Podger–who's a particular favourite for the sheer exuberance and joy of her playing, as well as everything she can teach us about the different colours you experience with gut strings at a lower pitch, and the myriad ways in which a baroque bow affects phrasing and articulation. A new generation of modern violinists has been listening, and learning, as you'll know if you've heard the likes of Viktoria Mullova, Julia Fischer or Alina Ibragimova in their recent recordings of solo Bach, each of them adopting different aspects of the baroque violinist's art, and experimenting with bows, strings, vibrato and phrasing.
Now we can add Isabelle Faust, whose sound is deliciously straight with little or no vibrato, and bowed with such sensitivity to Bach's phrasing that you could almost kid yourself at times that she's using a baroque bow. But a couple of features are especially telling: her instinct for ornamentation in the repeats, and the sense of cumulative musicianship–a momentum that builds not just in individual movements like the great Chaconne that ends Bach's D minor Partita, but through each suite. The Chaconne is on the brisk side, but beautifully built from the opening chords, and the Adagio and Fugue that open the C major Sonata are also particularly well handled by Faust, the slow opening movement stroked into life, before the different voices of Bach's monumental fugue are laid before us.
Faust's playing has elements of Mullova's power, Ibragimova's intimacy, Fischer's bravura, and Podger's delight in Bach's dances, and the recording is a peach, perfectly framing her musicianship. There's only one thing wrong with it: there are only three of the six suites here, the D minor and E major Partitas and the C major Sonata, and I'm impatient for volume two.
--Andrew McGregor
Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
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Customer Reviews
Isabelle Faust is playing this music as MUSIC, without losing the demands on technical skill. She can change from an almost heavy force where you can hear the concentration, to the lightest and most dancing feeling.
She is making the small changes in tempi that are necessary to make the music live. She is also displaying an understanding for both the micro and macro structures.
And it sounds just great!
Today, these works are very accessible and every young violinist appears to treat them as a 'rite of passage' before being admitted to the pantheon of being considered a 'Great' violinist. To be sure, there have been great recordings in recent years including Ehnes, Gidon Kremer, Ibragimova, Hilary Hahn (sadly incomplete), and the (IMHO) rather over-rated Julia Fischer version. (There are omissions including Anne-Sophie Mutter and Joshua Bell amongst others).
Surely, Isabelle Faust must be the most recent to be admitted to the summit. Her previous recordings have been superb but this must rank as her greatest achievement yet. The sheer quality of sound is stunning and her vision of these works is rock steady. I've always felt that one notch either way tempi wise can be the difference between a great performance and one that is merely 'superb'. Almost without exception, Faust is on the button. There is something so 'right' about these recordings.
I can't wait for the second volume to appear.
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