Wispelwey cello suites books

The lower registers of the particular cello used were more mellow than the baroque cello used for the previous 5 suites. Suites for cello solo 1990 recording pieter wispelwey on allmusic 1990. The wispelwey performance of the three britten suites for cello is up to and beyond his usual high standards. Wispelwey plays with unwavering finesse, and his deftly agile reading is memorable for some movingly understated playing in the plaintive minuet. Throw in growling cello textures due to a392 tuning, said to be authentic to the city of kothen where the suites were written, and you get extremely unsonglike utterances throughout. While brittens cello suites were composed less than 50 years ago, they also look back to j. It tells the life stories of bach and casals in relation to the cello suites, along with the story of the authors discovery of the suites and subsequent research into them.

I am familiar with the ma, bailey and isserlis performances of the bach cello suites, but this performance by wispelwey is my favorite. Wispelwey s second rendition of the bachs cello suites is among my favorites. Pieter wispelwey to play beethovens complete cello works at. Bach, pablo casals, and the search for a baroque masterpiece format. The 392 refers of course to the pitch at which his instrument is tuned, and this is a central aspect of how this performance is seen by wispelwey, and he demonstrates the clear differences between instruments. Wispelwey uses a baroque cello with the strings tuned down a whole tone. All of this added to the attractiveness of this particular performance.

It may all seem to add up to something with only a passing resemblance to what bach wrote, but wispelwey has the chops to pull this off, and theres an. Made at the age of 50, this is pieter wispelweys third recording of the cello suites by j. Wispelweys second rendition of the bachs cello suites is among my favorites. Pieter wispelwey to play beethovens complete cello works.

Sep 14, 2007 bach cello suites w anner bylsma using the servais stradivarius cello from the smithsonian collection of instruments. Its not a bad book by any means and im glad i read it. One autumn evening, shortly after ending a tenyear stint as a po. Pieter wispelwey news newspapers books scholar jstor march 2010 learn how and when to remove this template message. The cello suites is an incomparable, beautifully written, true journey of discovery, fuelled and inspired by the transcendent power of a musical masterpiece. If i stay by gayle forman, the cello suites by eric siblin, where she went by gayle forman, the garden of letters by alyson richm.

Pieter wispelwey accompanied by dejan lazic, picture. Pieter wispelwey plays the bach cello suites pieter wispelwey cello johann sebastian bach 16851750 suite no. Pieter wispelweys bach cello suites conjure up new. The performances were superb, demonstrating a high level of interpretive insight. Based on extensive research by laurence dreyfus and john butt from the dunedin consort, pieter tuned his strings down to a pitch of 392 for this recording, and the. This performance doesnt have the grandeur of the ma or bailey performances and the recording doesnt have the extremely fullbodied miking of the bailey performance, but what wispelway might lack in grandeur he makes up with a kind of wise, dancelike. Bach to elliott carter puts him in a good position for a performance that looks forward as well as back. In 1992, he was the first cellist to receive the netherlands music prize, a governmentawarded prize given to the most promising young musician in the netherlands. September 25, 1962 haarlem, the netherlands the dutch cellist, pieter wispelwey, was born in haarlem and grew up in santpoort. The cello suites, as it turned out, offered a way out of the jam. Playing the first five suites on a modern cello, mr. In a feat of endurance and concentration, cellist pieter wispelwey played the complete set of six bach cello suites to a crowd that filled seiji ozawa hall and spilled out onto the.

In 1990 his first recording with channel classics, the bach cello suites, was released to great acclaim and in 1992 he was the first cellist ever to receive the netherlands music prize, which is endowed upon the most promising young musician in the netherlands. Simon winchester author of the surgeon of crowthorne. Similar to my other favorite, heinrich schiff on emi, wispelwey employs widely varying tempos and flexible, often angular phrasing. Pieter wispelweys new recordings dance with sophistication and personality, writes ivan hewett. Bachs suites for unaccompanied cello have long been among my favorite pieces of music.

Pieter wispelwey cello florilegium vivaldi wrote with great imagination for the cello, and the sonatas, like the concertos, are plentifully endowed with affecting melodies the third movement of the e minor sonata is a superb. Celebrating his 50th birthday, this recording of bachs complete cello suites is pieter wispelweys third recording of the repertoire, but probably his most controversial. Wispelwey took broad liberties in tempo and pacing, often grouping clusters of notes against the grain and dispatching musical ideas with an. His first book, the cello suites, explores the multilayered story of an epic composition by johann sebastian bach. Britten pieter wispelwey three suites for violoncello.

Pieter wispelwey recorded this his third set of the suites when he was 50 years old. This is no doubt in part due to the hushed, organic sonority of his baroque cello. This is a less clinical recording than, say, the yo yo ma extravaganza or mischa maisky, and you can hear more of wispelwey both in the complexity of the performance and literally there are audible exhalation or exertion. Pieter wispelwey 6 cello suites for cello solo evil penguin rec. But since casals had started playing the suites at the dawn of the twentieth. Sacd, hybrid, multichannel, album channel classics. His first recording with channel classics records, the bach cello suites. Apr 08, 2003 playing the first five suites on a modern cello, mr. He has come to be regarded as one of the worlds leading performers and interpreters of both baroque and modern cello works. Thus, pieter wispelweys equal understanding of both modern and baroque music his repertoire spans from j. This is one of the most extraordinary, clever, beautiful, and impeccably researched books i have read in years. Oct 12, 2012 wispelwey uses a baroque cello with the strings tuned down a whole tone. Best sellers help new releases gift ideas gift cards home books sell computers. For me, this captures the malleability of the suites and wispelwey s gift while not obscuring their brilliance.

Winner of the mavis gallant prize for nonfiction and the mcauslan first book prize, the cello suites weaves together three dramatic narratives. Pieter wispelwey bachs instrumental works discography. The following morning, after a presumably deep sleep, wispelwey showed up at the adjacent walter reade theater to play the three cello suites of benjamin britten. From a very early age he was exposed to the sounds of his fathers amateur string quartet when they rehearsed at the wispelwey home. Learned a lot, to be sure, about bach, casals and these wonderful notes. It gives a deep grainy sound, but counteracting that is the fabulous springy liveliness of the playing. Britten pieter wispelwey three suites for violoncello solo. The key to this set is the dvd which is included, 392, pieter wispelwey and the bach cello suites. His cello is tuned at 392 hz, the cothen tuning, a. The three major works here were all written for other instruments and arranged for cello apparently by wispelwey himself. Courtesy of cleveland museum of artdutch cellist pieter wispelwey plays the complete cello works by beethoven on wednesday at the cleveland institute of music. When a rock critic falls deeply in love with the music of js bachs cello suites he. In this third recording of bachs cello suites, pieter wispelwey makes one important change to the way he plays these works.

In search of a baroque masterpiece by eric siblin phil daoust on the story of an obsession with a masterpiece phil daoust. Wispelweys fine technical control and precision never faltered, and the only downside was globes close, arid recording. Even though the voltage is lower in the outer sections of the work than in yoyo mas vehemently urgent cbssony recording with the french national orchestra and lorin maazel, wispelweys is the. In summary, i would suggest that the critics are absolutely correct in recommending wispelweys performances. This is no doubt in part due to the hushed, organic sonority of his baroque cello, which often has an intimate, meditative quality. The program notes for the recital by laurence lesser, a distinguished cellist from boston, explained that amazingly, for a long time, the cello suites were seen as only acollection of exercises. Pieter wispelwey born 25 september 1962 is a dutch cellist. Eric silbins the cello suites tenderly tracks them through bachs creation, their discovery by pablo casals and to the authors own exploration of the music and himself. In fact, this is the first in a projected series of albums that will cover all of the duo sonatas of brahms and schubert, whether written for cello and piano or not most of them werent. It is a fascinating set to mark that momentous anniversary year with. Pieter wispelwey played all six of bachs suites for cello with magical lightness, clarity and an imagination that seems to spontaneously call new musical shapes into being. Bach cello wispelwey evil penguin records eprc012 dc. His cello is tuned at 392 hz, the cothen tuning, a halftone lower than the standard tuning of 415. A decade ago pieter wispelwey recorded brittens three cello suites for the globe label glo5074.