Johann Sebastian Bach - Sonatas & Partitas for Solo Violin (Arthur Grumiaux)

Information

Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

CD1:

• (01-04) Sonata No. 1 in G minor, BWV 1001
• (05-12) Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002
• (13-16) Sonata No. 2 in A minor, BWV 1003

CD2:

• (01-05) Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004
• (06-09) Sonata No. 3 in C major, BWV 1005
• (10-15) Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006

Arthur Grumiaux, violin
Date: 1961
Label: Philips
http://www.deccaclassics.com/us/cat/4387362

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Review

Nearly 40 years on‚ Grumiaux’s Bach still manages to sound fresh­minted and true

Once heard‚ Arthur Grumiaux’s noble solo Bach recordings will take up permanent residency in your musical memory‚ less on account of their brilliance (though the Third Partita offers plenty of that) than their probing musicality. The two biggest challenges are the D minor Partita’s Chaconne and the C major Sonata’s Fugue. Both bear witness to unflinching concentration‚ a keen responsiveness to formal argument (especially in the Fugue) and an ability to cross the strings without excessive ‘scrunching’‚ something that not even Heifetz always avoids. Grumiaux respects the music’s dance origins‚ even in the sonatas‚ where (for example) the G minor’s Siciliano skips as well as sings. He is master both of legato and detached bowing (compare the Double and Courante of the First Partita) and his warm‚ finely controlled vibrato – which is fairly fast though never intrusive – helps define a restrained but affecting musical personality. If you need a representative sampling of Grumiaux’s poise and profundity‚ try the largo from the Third Sonata.

The sound in this transfer is a good deal better focused than on the various LP and CD editions that I’ve owned over the years‚ less obtrusively resonant and with a far sharper solo profile. And while most other sets of the Sonatas and Partitas fall short of a fill­up‚ Philips offers supple and tonally seductive 1963 accounts of the two violin and clavier sonatas‚ BWV1016 and BWV1017 – musically immaculate and object lessons in seamless tonal projection. True‚ those readers who are wedded to the principle of period performance will cast them aside as anachronistic‚ but those who aren’t‚ or who prefer to keep an open mind on such matters‚ can’t fail to be enchanted.

Rivals in the unaccompanied works are far too plentiful to catalogue in detail. As to the ‘late and greats’‚ Joseph Szigeti (Vanguard – nla) is technically a lot less secure than Grumiaux‚ but his unique interpretative insights cannot be passed over lightly. Heifetz projects more overall intensity‚ and his account of the A minor Sonata remains unrivalled (especially the Andante) but Grumiaux is a princely player who‚ while rarely wearing his heart on his sleeve‚ invests each of these magnificent pieces with style and a wealth of feeling. Whatever versions of the Sonatas and Partitas you choose to own‚ this set simply has to be one of them. Fingers crossed that its release signals the systematic domestic reissue of Grumiaux’s magnificent Philips legacy in toto.

-- Gramophone

More reviews:
ClassicsToday  ARTISTIC QUALITY: 10 / SOUND QUALITY: 10
BBC Music Magazine  PERFORMANCE: ***** / SOUND: ****
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2001/July01/Bach_Sonatas_Partitas.htm
http://www.allmusic.com/album/js-bach-sonatas-partitas-mw0001422319
https://www.amazon.com/Bach-Complete-Sonatas-Partitas-Violin/dp/B00000417N
https://www.amazon.com/Bach-Sonatas-Partitas-solo-violin/dp/B000E6EH18

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Johann Sebastian Bach (31 March [O.S. 21 March] 1685 – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. Bach enriched established German styles through his mastery of counterpoint, harmonic and motivic organisation, and his adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from Italy and France. He is known for instrumental compositions such as the Brandenburg Concertos and the Goldberg Variations, and vocal music such as the St Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor. Since the 19th-century Bach Revival he has been generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Sebastian_Bach

***

Arthur Grumiaux (21 March 1921 – 16 October 1986) was a Belgian violinist. He is considered to have been one of the few truly great violin virtuosi of the twentieth century. Grumiaux studied violin with Alfred Dubois, counterpoint and fugue with Jean Absil at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels, and also studied composition privately in Paris with George Enescu. Grumiaux's playing has been included on over 30 recordings, nearly all under Philips, although his name is also seen on the labels of EMI, Belart and Music & Arts. He owned a 1744 Guarneri, the "Rose", and a 1727 Stradivarius, the "General Dupont".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Grumiaux
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/arthur-grumiaux-mn0000167073/biography

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

FLAC, tracks

Links in comment

Enjoy!