Bach: The Cello Suites / Yehuda Hanani

On this CD:

1. Suite for solo cello No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performed by Yehuda Hanani

2. Suite for solo cello No. 4 in E flat major, BWV 1010
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performed by Yehuda Hanani

3. Suite for solo cello No. 5 in C minor, BWV 1011
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performed by Yehuda Hanani

4. Suite for solo cello No. 3 in C major, BWV 1009
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performed by Yehuda Hanani

5. Suite for solo cello No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1008
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performed by Yehuda Hanani

6. Suite for solo cello No. 6 in D major, BWV 1012
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performed by Yehuda Hanani

Tracks:

Suite No. 3 in C major
Suite No. 4 in E flat major
Suite No. 6 in D major

Customer Reviews:

Insightful and Beautiful.......2007-02-02

I have recordings of the cello suites by Casals, Ma, Gendron, Starker, Rostropovich, and others, and I love them all, but this one is special. Very clearly defined, beautiful tone, insightful structure: I love listening to Hanani's version. A cellist myself, I'm trying to learn the suites, and this recording truly brings them to breathing, architectural life. Nicely and clearly recorded.

The liner notes are profound: no other way to say it. Hanani's description of the Suites and their meaning goes to the heart of them.
Highly recommended!

Unbelievably beautiful AND exciting playing.......2004-08-08

I was about to attend a two-day symposium on the Bach Cello Suites led by Yehuda Hanani, an artist with which I was unfamiliar. I e-mailed him ahead of time to make some queries about their approaches to investigating and interpreting these works, and he graciously sent me a copy of these CDs to preview.

I was absolutely captivated from the very first note. His playing had none of the mechanical "creaking" sound of late-period Casals, or the beautiful-but-bland style of later cellists. As he wrote in the liner notes, each time he approaches these suites it is a new and exciting journey for him in which he discovers something new and interesting, and tries to bring it out, so that he does not consider this recording a "definitive" reading in any sense.

Be that as it may, it is certainly an revelation to hear these suites played with such a wonderful combination of exultant, singing tone and bouncing, swaggering counterpoint. One is absolutely never bored when listening to these performances; on the contrary, one is totally swept up in the moment, Hanani's moment, or perhaps YOUR moment.

Very, very highly recommended.

extremely unique Bach suites.......2002-04-03

As a former student of Yehuda Hanani, I couldn't wait to hear his Bach suites. His understanding of the suites and his incredible skill as a private teacher and master class teacher had forever altered the way I would hear the works. His performance here, however, is a bit uneven.

In attempting to create the feeling of polyphany, Hanani often accents each note of a single line harshly, or articulates it unusually, or slightly alters the timing, or in a few cases, even plays it pizzicato where of course it isn't marked that way. With three or four separate lines all receiving individual attention, the overall sweeping melodic line envisioned by most modern performers is left in the dust. One of my best friends and an excellent musician herself said "it's incredible what he's doing, but I feel like I'm on a rocking boat." I wouldn't say my own listening experience is all that different.

Hanani further makes this recording unique by adding in all sorts of ornamentation, but this is a very modern, personal, spontaneous sort of ornamentation, not that of a trained period instrument performer. It generally works quite well, however, so I can't complain about it except to repeat what another former teacher once told me, that these suites already have written-in ornamentation and require very little further ornamentation, even on repeats.

In short, this is excellent playing from a soulful artist who absolutely feels these six suites in his blood. It's just slightly too unusual to take as seriously as some of the other modern recordings or many of the period recordings.

Wonderful interpretation.......2002-01-11

Hanani is less well known than Yo-Yo Ma and other touring/recording cellists but as an amateur cellist (for over 50 years) and lover of these suites I recommend them as equal to any performance I've heard and better than most.

A wonderfully insightful vision of the suites........1999-02-08

Mr. Hanani's intimate vision of the suites as polyphonic compositions is brought to life in every moment of this recording. Never oppressive, the freedom taken with ornaments, color and tempo choices really make this a vision shared rather than an illustration handed down from above. Mr Hanani has gone deep into the compositional process of the suites. Although the tempi do not always relect the Baroque origins of these pieces, this unique vision should not be missed.

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