“Jean-Sébastien Bach, The six Suites for solo cello”, Jean-Guihen Queyras

About the 9^e Symphony of Beethoven, the great conductor Günter Wand said: “RCA wants me to re-record it, but what could I do better? » He was absolutely right. So there is always some apprehension when a so-called “reference” performer returns to the field of his past exploits. In the case of the suites by Bach and Jean-Guihen Queyras, everything justifies this new recording, even if the old one, from 2007, was a discographic standard. Because the tone and the atmosphere have changed. Queyras 2007 is a sort of idealized cello in a flattering sound cocoon. Queyras 2023 is the apotheosis of dance with the most natural, most embodied and most tangible sound possible. The great pitfall of the approach would be to want to demonstrate the accuracy of all these traits and impulses, and to dry up the musical expression. The miracle of the recording is that Queyras does not fall into this trap: there is nothing dry or didactic, just life that sparkles with tenderness and humanity.

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