Johan Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
The Six Cello Suites BWV 1007-12
William Skeen (cello & violoncello piccolo)
rec. 2020, Skywalker Sound, Nicasio, USA
Reference Recordings FR758 [2 CDs: 150]

I am quietly obsessed by Bach’s cello suites and have a dozen sets on my shelves – and those are just the ones I have opted to retain; several more that I have owned and reviewed have been discarded as they will not be revisited. I have reviewed three sets in the last couple of years since MusicWeb moved to its new site (Quaresma & de Naverán; Thorsteindóttir) and prior to that wrote half a dozen reviews going back to 2010, the first being a comparison of Pablo Casals’ classic set with recordings by four other masters: Fournier, Rostropovich, Starker and Isserlis.

Of course, none of that makes me any kind of authority or expert and I make absolutely no claims to such; I just happen to be  a listener who, like so many others, finds these pieces fascinating. Most recordings are on a steel-string cello at modern pitch with No. 6 adapted so it can be played on the same instrument as the others; the exception is David Watkin’s excellent “period” account (review); his playing is vibratoless and on historic instruments with gut strings, using a baroque bow. He also switches cellos for No. 6, from a Francesco Rugeri instrument, c.1670, to a five-string Hieronymous Amati, c.1600.

For this new recording, early music specialist cellist William Skeen also uses period instruments: for Suites 1-5, a “Giovanni Grancino, Milan 1725” whose sound he characterises in the notes as having “a warm, rich bass-end and bright, clear high-end”, and for No. 6, his own Anonymous Italian violoncello piccolo c. 1680 whose sound is “direct and nasal in tone, similar to a viola da gamba”, its advantage being that it is “more powerful and balanced, bottom to top, than most five-string celli, having the usual brilliant high range, but also a developed low end.” In addition, he uses a modern replica of a 1720s bow capable of producing “ a messa di voce or shaping of an individual note that is a hallmark of Baroque performance practice.” He follows normal practice of including repeats – only Sæunn Thorsteindóttir, as per the review above, omits them – and the nearest reference for comparison is obviously Watkin’s recording rather than the more Romantic predecessors. Like him, Skeen plays at Baroque pitch –  a semitone lower than we are now used to – and his timings are conventional, slower by five minutes overall than Watkin’s slightly brisker conspectus.

There is nothing overtly HIP about Skeen’s delivery of this lovely music and his playing is remarkably fluent and expressive. Yes, he is very sparing with vibrato but that is consonant with modern practice regardless of the style adopted. The only thing apart from pitch that gives this away as “authentic” is a very slight buzz or the occasional sharp, grating glitch which escapes, and I assume that is inherent in playing period instruments. The buzzing bass notes he alludes to are very resonant and the faintly grating underlay in the middle voice of his instrument is attractive, stiffening the melodic line. For me, the Sarabandes in these concertos are always special points of interest, and I enjoy the way Skeen leans into their leading notes and doesn’t sentimentalise them with too much rubato.

The recorded sound is impeccable and I have nothing to add to that. The suites are not presented in chronological order and there is quite a wrench in mood from the pure light of No. 1 on CD 1 to the dark complexity of No. 5, in which Skeen makes a telling contrast between the tonal colour of the upper and lower registers of his instrument. It is hard to pick out highlights, but I am struck here by the intensity of tone and expression in the Prélude of Suite No. 3 which opens the second disc. I do, however, quarrel with the stilted way Skeen executes the opening of No. 4, the grandest and most majestic of the suites; Watkin gives it considerably more drive and momentum.

The switch of instruments for No. 6 occasions a similar change of sonic gear to that we experience in  Watkin’s recoding; the sound is indeed lighter and wirier as befits a suite suffused with sunlight, and like Watkin, Skeen takes the Allemande very slowly, bringing out its languid soulfulness. In fact I am struck by how similar Watkin’s and Skeen’s performances are – and as both are excellent, I mean that to be entirely complimentary – just as they are, in a sense, complementary. Watkin is a little freer and more expressive, Skeen more classically “straight” in affect. As such, if, like me, you are enamoured of this “pure music” and are seeking a period version as a supplement or indeed an alternative to a recording at modern pitch on a conventional cello, I urge you to acquire one or the other, as it will enhance your appreciation of this enduring and enigmatic set of suites. As good as this is, my preference remains with Watkin’s slightly livelier account.                 

Ralph Moore

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