Jaakko Kuusisto – Bach: Sonatas & Partitas (2019) [FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

There are many questions surrounding Johann Sebastian Bach’s ‘Six Solos for violin’, or the Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin, as they are usually called today. When did he compose them, and why, and for whom? In what circumstances were they performed? And why would a master of polyphony choose to write for a melody instrument with limited scope for polyphony or chords? We can only guess at the answers – which makes the works all the more fascinating. The legendary violinist George Enescu famously described the set as ‘the Himalayas of violinists’, but for more than 200 years they were primarily regarded as pedagogical exercises rather than compositions worthy of the concert hall. Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann tried to popularize them by making versions with piano accompaniment, while Busoni did away with the violin altogether in his transcription of the famous Chaconne from Partita No. 2. But since Yehudi Menuhin made the first complete recording of the Sonatas and Partitas, between 1929 and 1936, they have become a staple during violin recitals, on disc and in concert. Fascinating performers and audiences alike with their architectural perfection as well as their emotional range, these are works that lend themselves to very different interpretations, and on this recording it is the Bach of Finnish violinist Jaakko Kuusisto we hear. Himself a composer – as well as violinist and conductor – Kuusisto remembers beginning to study individual movements from the set at the age of ten. The music has been with him ever since, and to him ‘no other works for the violin provide a higher challenge or greater beauty’.

Tracklist:
1. Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, BWV 1001: I. Adagio 04:00
2. Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, BWV 1001: II. Fuga. Allegro 05:03
3. Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, BWV 1001: III. Siciliana 02:50
4. Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, BWV 1001: IV. Presto 03:26
5. Violin Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002: I. Allemanda 05:00
6. Violin Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002: II. Double 04:00
7. Violin Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002: III. Courante 03:18
8. Violin Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002: IV. Double. Presto 03:38
9. Violin Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002: V. Sarabanda 04:16
10. Violin Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002: VI. Double 03:26
11. Violin Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002: VII. Tempo di bourrée 03:29
12. Violin Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002: VIII. Double 03:00
13. Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 1003: I. Grave 04:37
14. Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 1003: II. Fuga 07:19
15. Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 1003: III. Andante 04:56
16. Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 1003: IV. Allegro 06:02
17. Violin Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004: I. Allemande 04:56
18. Violin Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004: II. Courante 02:41
19. Violin Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004: III. Sarabande 04:43
20. Violin Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004: IV. Gigue 03:50
21. Violin Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004: V. Ciaccona 13:22
22. Violin Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1005: I. Adagio 04:33
23. Violin Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1005: II. Fuga 09:38
24. Violin Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1005: III. Largo 03:33
25. Violin Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1005: IV. Allegro assai 04:47
26. Violin Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006: I. Preludio 03:50
27. Violin Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006: II. Loure 03:56
28. Violin Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006: III. Gavotte en rondeau 02:55
29. Violin Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006: IV. Menuets I & II 04:17
30. Violin Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006: VI. Bourrée 01:31
31. Violin Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006: VII. Gigue 01:48