Search - Gavriel Lipkind :: J. S. Bach: Suites for Cello Solo (Single Voice Polyphony I)

An Adventurous Journey

O. L. Bannink | 05/16/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The moment of taking the box from its cover marks the beginning of an embarkation upon an adventurous journey into Gavriel Lipkind's world of Bach's Suites for Cello Solo. Opening the exquisite black leather(-like) box, with gold imprinted and braille text enriched, reveals 3 sections containing a map of the journey, the sacds, and the informational booklet describing his unorthodox interpretation in detail.



Lipkind's unsurprising, at least after hearing his Miniatures cd, technical prowess enables him to perfectly translate his interpretational ideas into music. His very personal style is an interesting mix of contemporary and authentical baroque performance practices, resulting in a distinctly pleasurable yet intriguing listening experience.



The recordings, as well as the design, will satisfy everyone from the casual listener to the most critical professional. A must have!"

Music to treasure

A. Kissin Shechter | 05/14/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In the demanding field of Bach's music for cello solo this recording, I believe, is a unique gem. It offers pure intellectual and sensual pleasure on a number of levels. It is, to begin with, the product of an intense and profound study of Bach's musical and religious philosophy. It is also a revolutionary interpretation of Bach's music that is bound to shake the musical establishment. It is a personal expression of pure love for Bach's music - and it is catching. It is educational for those of us who will take the time to study the fascinating booklet. It is exquisite visual pleasure to look at Carolyn Steinbeck's amazingly beautiful design of the black-and-gold package, a gem in itself, and a tactile pleasure to hold the inner box with its intricate opening that offers aesthetic surprise and satisfaction when you take it out of the slipcase. Finally, and this of course is the primary level of aesthetic pleasure, it is music played with both absolute precision and great human warmth, which blend to grant us sublime pleasure. I have listened to Gavriel Lipkind's recording after Jacqueline Du Pre's and found it so much more moving. This is a unique gift for someone you love. Both as a first installment in an ambitious and promising series of recordings - Single Voice Polyphony - that Lipkind is planning, and as a recording in its own right, this is an item to treasure that should be in any music lover's collection. I should add that, in spite of what might seem, I am not at all an expert in the field, but just a lover of music, and of Bach in particular. What allows me such unauthorized conviction - and should, I hope, excuse my presumptiousness - is the powerful joy of listening to this recording."

Very Different and Interesting

Joseph L. Ponessa | Glendive MT USA | 01/06/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have never found the ideal recording of the Bach cello suites. Something has eluded me, and I ordered this set hoping to find that something. I didn't find it, but I found something else: a very unique presentation.

Gavriel Lipkind has re-bowed all six cello suites, in such a way that they are more user-friendly for the soloist. I mean that every single phrase has been rethought, from the beginning of the first suite to the end of the sixth. A note that might have belonged to the end of one phrase now belongs to the beginning of another, or vice-versa. One listens and recognizes a familiar phrase hiding underneath the Lipkind interpretation, and it becomes a game of hide-and-go-seek. The experience reminds me of an episode from the Dickens novel Nicholas Nickleby. A certain Mr Curdle, an amateur Shakespeare scholar, had proven to his own satisfaction 'that by altering the received mode of punctuation ... any of Shakespeare's plays could be made quite different, and the sense completely changed.' So, the question is, does Mr Lipkind reveal Bach or obscure him? By the fourth or fifth suite Bach seems pretty submerged. Maybe the rephrasing becomes more radical there, or maybe the listener simply tires of trying to hang onto the familiar. Anyway, the 1702 Garani cello has a very pleasant resonance and the SACD recording technology does not dampen or darken the instrument. So the music is well worth experiencing, and the disc worth having. This is not the definitive rendition, but surely that was not the artist's intention."