David Watkin - Johann Sebastian Bach: Cello Suites, BWV 1007-1012 (2015) 2CDs

As with so much mainstream repertoire, the catalogue is so full of recordings – good and bad – that there often has to be some form of abstract justification to qualify any further additions. David Watkin’s profound musicianship, though, is more than enough to accelerate this recording of Bach’s Cello Suites to the top of the tiny league of ‘definitive’ recordings, beyond the infinitesimal care of Ditta Rohmann (Hungaroton, 5/14, 11/14), the meticulous intellectualism of Anner Bylsma (Sony, 7/81, 1/93) or even the refined warmth of the benchmark Fournier performances (Archiv, 3/89): all encapsulate the vital elements of these works but none succeeds completely in covering them all.

Watkin plays the first five suites on a cello by Francesco Ruggieri – a luthier contemporary of Bach’s whose instruments are famed for their warmth of tone – and the sixth on a rare five-string cello by the Amati brothers of the same period. But the extraordinarily resonant sound he makes is probably less to do with the instruments than with the playing itself, which is warm, expansive, generous and friendly. That is not to say that this performance is not of the highest level intellectually and technically: it is, and largely because of its appreciation of these suites as not just dances but discourses almost verbal in their directness. It is as if all the work that Watkin has ever done on these pieces has been absorbed absolutely and then reproduced in a performance that is able to be completely original in its voice at the same time as never producing a phrase that jars in its unsubtlety, or presents an ego that overarches the music.

That generosity of artistry directly results in some movements that are not only opened up to the listener as the masterworks they are but as paeans of heart-cracking joy. If you only buy this disc for the Prelude of the C major Suite, for exactly that reason, it will be money well spent.

Review by Caroline Gill, Gramophone

There have been fine recent recordings of Bach’s suites on Baroque cello, including Richard Tunnicliffe’s characterful accounts (Linn), but this, to me, feels like the set I’ve spent years waiting for.
David Watkin, one of our most inspired continuo players, is a consummate virtuoso. Sympathetically captured in Edinburgh’s Robin Chapel, his performances are alive with a rare joy, effortless spontaneity, technical precision and imaginative fluency.

Just turn to the most awkward, least grateful of the Suites, the fourth in E flat major, and see how he shrugs off the Prelude’s sharp corners in a reading of limpid vivacity, never allowing technical concerns to dictate the line. At the other end of the spectrum, he unlocks all the expressive fullness of the poignant C minor Sarabande, proving that the eloquence of the Baroque bow is more than a match for the projection of the modern cello.

These may be scholarly readings but there’s not a hint of rigidity; indeed, if there was any quibble it would be over his occasional impetuosity. Dance is king, but never at the expense of the harmonic story. Courantes and Bourées are fleet, Gigues jauntily brusque, with a lovely rhythmic flexibility and flair and the Sarabandes are graceful and flowing. The all-embracing warmth of the chords in stately Gavottes and Minuets is simply not possible on the modern instrument. Some exceptionally swift second dances (in the C major and C minor suites, for instance) float past like smoke. The pianissimo playing is revelatory here, the moth-wing timbral delicacy of strings barely brushed. Watkin ends with the bright resonance of a five-string Amati in a radiant D major suite. Hearing such airy ease, it’s almost impossible to believe the devastating news that Watkin recorded this while suffering from the early stages of scleroderma, a condition that has forced him to stop playing. There couldn’t be a better testament to a remarkable musician.

Review by Helen Wallace, BBC Music Magazine

sing two historic instruments and playing on gut strings, David Watkin gives a definitive period instrument account of Bach’s six solo Cello Suites. It should be in any Bach lover’s collection. One can only marvel at Watkin’s range of colour, his elegance, his verve, variety and spontaneity – above all his understanding of line and pulse. He has long been one of the top cellists around, as soloist, quartet player and principal cellist of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. This is his final statement as a soloist. A shoulder condition has forced him to stop playing. He will devote his energies, in part, to conducting. Whatever our regrets, we can expect this phenomenal musician to make a mark on the podium too.

Review by Fiona Maddocks, The Guardian

Exact Audio Copy V1.1 from 23. June 2015

EAC extraction logfile from 11. February 2016, 22:19

David Watkin / Bach - Cello Suites - CD1

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Analyzed: David Watkin / Bach - Cello Suites - CD1
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DR Peak RMS Duration Track
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
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Official DR value: DR12

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Exact Audio Copy V1.1 from 23. June 2015

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Analyzed: David Watkin / Bach - Cello Suites - CD2
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DR Peak RMS Duration Track
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
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DR12 -5.55 dB -21.55 dB 3:40 02-Suite No.2 in D minor, BWV 1008 - II. Allemande
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Official DR value: DR13

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