Pierre Fournier. Bach Cello Suites. Archiv Produktion CD 449711-2 1996 Reissue and Remaster of original 1960/61 recording.
Recorded 1960/61 in the Beethovensaal in Hanover.
The Cellist.
Peirre Fournier is a very well respected and much loved virtuoso cellist. Commentators often characterise him as aristocratic which would seem appropriate viewing his photos.
The accompanying notes describe him as very self critical. He desires to preserve a sense of continuity during the recording process.
Long phrases and sense of continuous momentum across the Suites bear this out.
The music.
Many performers make a great deal of the various phrases within the music. Fournier strings it all together, not ignoring the subtle ebb and flow but encompassing it all in one single phrase.
It is almost as if he were a writer stringing very long sentences together, as opposed to lots of short sentences. There are commas to highlight changes of emphasis but he preserves the overall sense by those long sentences.
There are a few times when Fournier cannot resist demonstrating his mastery of singing out a tune in a most sublime manner. But for the most part he keeps this in check so that the Suites he does not overly sugar with romanticism.
Your eyebrows will not twitch in response to the tempos. In general the faster movements seem to be quite slow particularly the gigue of the 1st Suite.
The slower movements particularly Allemandes move along quite briskly.
So, overall, my feeling was that this rendition lives up to the reputation which goes before it and certainly one to consider against similar period recordings by Starker and Tortelier.
Concern about digital transfer.
I do however have grave concerns about the digital transfer to CD of these recordings. The booklet describes this is in some impressive detail.
About half way through listening to this recording I started getting the feeling that something was not right. My senses began to jar. I think this boils down to a couple of areas. The cello tone is quite pinched and nasal in some passages and chords sound very snatched. This might be due to the player’s technique, but having listened to a live recording of the Suites by Fournier on Spotify I suspect that what I am listening to are the effects of compression.
Having researched this matter, it appears that compression is used to amplify passages which are quiet and reduce in volume those which are loud. The latter function is triggered at a certain threshold and subject to attack and release functions. I suspect this is what causes the chords particularly in the Sarabandes to sound snatched and abrupt. For more detail follow this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/
Conclusion.
Therefore, I would recommend this rendition but urge the listener to consider trying to get hold of either an earlier CD version from 1986 on DG or even an original copy of the vinyl release, but these are at a very high premium!
Post script.
I did manage to get hold of a used copy of the DG CD catalogue no 419361-2 at a reasonable price.
It sounded a much more musical rendition and vastly preferable to the remastered Archiv version.
From Mark:
Pierre Fournier Six Suites for Solo Cello (Archiv Produktion) Rec.1960-61 449711-2.
It amuses me, that given the composer of the suites was German to the core, and that several of the dance forms (granted usually titled with their French spelling) emanate from outside France, such as Germany for allemandes, and gigues most likely from the Irish jig, it is still French cellists who seem to have the greatest affinity for these works. In my own collection I currently have 5 such versions and there is not a dud between them.
The Fournier version is the earliest one by a French Cellist I possess, and it is a gem. It has something approaching mythical status amongst those in the know and has been almost constantly available to purchase since they were first released.
A number of words come to mind when considering the qualities of Fournier’s offerings. They are urbane, cultured, well paced, and beautifully balanced. The Prelude to the 1st Suite gives an indication of what is to follow. It is unhurried but flows in an unfailingly musical manner. He is jaunty in quicker movements and thoughtful in slower ones such as the Sarabandes. The required swells in pieces seem just right, and the quieter moments are not over egged. It sounds like damning with faint praise to say that they would make excellent background music, where nothing would jar subconsciously whilst listening, but the fact remains that is true. However, that sells them short, as there is clearly a lot of thought, care and attention going into these readings which demands closer listening. Trying to find particular highlight movements to comment on seems superfluous to me, since I see this recording as one which more readily meets my criteria in my personal profile of being beautifully shaped and having a very coherent structure.
In the interests of balance, some may find Fournier’s too safe a performance, with other versions where greater risks are taken more to their taste. However, (and I am straying into my colleague’s territory here) I suspect Fournier had a wonderful bowing arm which just makes the suites sound easy to play, which is most definitely not the case.
In summary, I think Fournier would be an excellent first version of the suites to become acquainted with, and for some it may well prove to be the only one they ever need…
Mark.