Julius Berger. Bach Cello Suites. Orfeo S 146 853 F 3LP box set. 1985.
2CD C 146 852 H. 1985. For review streaming in CD quality on TIDAL used.
Recorded Sept. 26-28 and Nov. 28-30, 1984
Recording venue. Kreuzberg-Kirche bei Steingaden.
Cello used unknown.
Introduction.
I will refer the reader to our previous review of the later recording by Julius Berger which is located here:
https://bachcellosuites.co.uk/julius-berger-1997/
Within this review is a link to a Gramophone review comparing the two recordings.
https://juliusberger.de/albums/j-s-bach-suiten-fuer-violoncello-solo/
In a number of ways, I agree with the Gramophone reviewer so I confine myself to points which they have either omitted or where I differ in opinion to some degree or other.
The Music.
Firstly the positives with the Orfeo recording. It is a very well-articulated performance with plenty of dynamics. The tone is impressive and full bodied with moderate vibrato. Technically, there are never any doubts or insecurities.
The playing is rhythmic with bounce befitting the dance nature of this music beyond the Preludes.
The Sarabandes tend to be slow and sustained in tone and phrasing with little air between phrases. The second Suite Sarabande stands out due to use of double dotted quaver rhythm in parts. To my mind this works well.
Metronomic Tempo.
However, my biggest concern about this recording is the almost metronomic speed used throughout most of the recording. There was some give and take in the second Suite but for the most part the regularity of the pulse of the music was almost disturbing! I even set a metronome to assure myself I was not imagining this. In the Prelude only a couple of beats either way were lost!
The result of this to my ears is a very clinical interpretation despite plenty of dynamics and a decent swing to the music giving bounce particularly in more lively movements. I have tried to understand what is going on to give me this impression. My best rationalisation is that there is little horizontal phrasing. By this is meant little sense of direction of travel to and from key parts of the music. For a better explanation check out this link:
https://frequencybone.blogspot.com/2009/09/phrasing-vertical-and-horizontal.html
My understanding of horizontal phrasing is that it is achieved by both dynamics and variation in speed.
Interestingly, this lack of horizontal phrasing works well in the fifth Suite Prelude especially the fugal section. The mathematical nature of the writing seems to suit this approach.
Another way I think of it is as if the performance is mostly two dimensional rather than three dimensional.
Conclusion.
This first recording by Berger is certainly not without its attractions especially if you like a full-bodied cello tone. However, the second later recording is in my view much better and addresses my concerns regards the phrasing. The two recordings are an excellent example of the potential for variations of interpretation of the Suites. If the same performer can produce such differing performances, is it any wonder that there are over 260 different recordings of the complete Suites in existence?
Charles.