Colin Carr, Bach Cello Suites, Wigmore Hall Live CD 0060/2
Released 2013. Recorded 5 May 2012 before live audience.
Venue. The Wigmore Hall, London.
Cello played is by Matteo Goffriller.
The Cellist.
Colin Carr is a British cellist who is very well respected as both performer and teacher.
Key facts are that he was a student at the Yehudi Menuhin school, where he had contact with Maurice Gendron and that later he benefitted from guidance by William Pleeth. The CD notes and an interview with Tim Janof (link below) reveal a wry sense of humour and a certain self-deprecation. In addition, there is quite an open and honest assessment of Maurice Gendron as a teacher.
http://www.cello.org/Newsletter/Articles/carr/carr.htm
The recording.
Firstly, the Wigmore Hall team have done a sterling job in creating a quality recording full of detail, just the right amount of reverberation and capturing the full range of Carr’s Goffriller. They have built up a wealth of experience over the last 17 years. This was to the benefit of audience and performers alike during lockdown as the Wigmore Hall were the most obvious leader in streaming classical concerts to the public during the Covid epidemic. Somehow the audience are inaudible until the end of each Suite when an enthusiastic applause is heard. I’m not sure if clever editing obliterates the odd cough. If not, the audience were very well behaved!
The music.
This is a very difficult performance to write without sounding very bland! Technically Carr is excellent, with no obvious errors or tuning issues. Musically this is a very beguiling rendition which keeps the listener’s attention without making the heart beat faster.
The style is very much mainstream with modest vibrato. In addition, Carr employs generally legato playing, with phrases over several bars. Dynamics are modest, speeds very mainstream, and dare I suggest it; predictable.
The thought keeps coming into my head that this recording is to the Bach Cello Suites listener what the VW Golf is to a keen driver. It presents everything one would wish for in a recording with technical prowess, a timeless style, a certain panache and to many, it may feel very desirable.
This may sound a bit derogatory, but it is not meant to be. It is just that there is very little that strays from the middle ground. Nothing that raises the eyebrows and nothing that irritates. Yet it is a performance that I am strongly drawn towards.
Summary
If you have an open mind and simply need a no nonsense version of the Suites this is an ideal place to start.
Charles.