Search - Bach, Rudin :: Cello Suites

Many fine, reasonably priced recordings of Bach's Unaccompanied Cello Suites are on the market, including Alexander Rudin's on Naxos: a significant improvement over the label's earlier released cycle with Csaba Onczay. In quicker movements like the Courantes and Gigues, Rudin keeps the music's uplifting dance qualities in the foreground and fortifies the fluidity of his Preludes and Sarabandes by drawing lush, eloquent sonorities from his 1740 Montagnan cello (tuned, like Anner Bylsma's and Yo-Yo Ma's remakes, a half step down from "modern" standard pitch). His unself-regarding and effective transcription of the famous D Minor Violin Chaconne provides generous filler. Rudin's playing is so good that when he occasionally scrapes his bow or just misses a note's intonational mark, you notice it. Still, budget-minded consumers might consider this excellently engineered offering, although a few more dollars more get you Heinrich Schiff's incomparable Bach Suites on EMI. --Jed Distler