Maitane Sebastian. Bach Cello Suites CD Paraty 239171 Released 2019.
Recorded Aguerria Estate Chapel in Maule. No dates given.
Cellos used were a copy of a Joseph Guarneri senior cello made by Frederic Chaudiere for Suites 1-5
For Suite 6 a 18th century French piccolo cello.
Bow details are given in the CD notes.
The Cellist.
Maitane Sebastian appears to have been born in the Basque region of Spain and then made her home in France. She mainly concentrates on teaching.
There is very little to discover about her on the internet and the biography on her web site contains significant errors. Link below, is below for lack of alternative sources!
http://www.maitanesebastian.com/biographie/
The Recording.
I find this recording to be excellent in terms of sound quality. There is minimal extraneous noise from the artist, and a good sound stage,with even and generous tone across the range of the cello. Whilst there is a sense of space around the performer no excessive amounts of echo or reverberation impinge on the listener.
The artist uses the current style of sparse vibrato, and clear articulation but without appearing to aspire to an authentic historically informed performance.
The Music.
This recording is what I can only describe as a straight down the middle rendition of the Bach Cello Suites. There is very little that sounds unusual or individual and certainly very few idiosyncrasies. That is certainly not to imply that it is boring and uninteresting. Far from it. The phrasing is exceptionally well considered in my view. Possibly a little understated but then that enables one to superimpose one’s own imagined phrasing with ease. There are no marked tempo variations, but reasonable dynamics.
What I particularly enjoyed was the attack given to the faster movements particularly the third Gigue. I suspect this is one of the artist’s favourites as the only two videos I could find included the performance of this piece. Her cross string passages are very impressive building up to a grand climax. In the double stopping Sebastian brings out the lower notes more clearly than many. This brings out the polyphony of this particular music.
Throughout the Suites, the ability of the performer to articulate clearly and play with rhythm and style gives great pleasure. Another highlight was the second Gavotte of the final Suite which underlines this observation.
The only detractor for me was the ornamentation which seemed mainly to be used in the early Suites. This did occasionally get in way of the flow of the music and seems to be used less often as the Suites progress. Throughout intonation appeared spot on with very little to give concern about technical prowess.
Conclusion.
I suspect this release may have fallen victim to the lockdown of the last two years subsequent to Covid. If so, it certainly deserves consideration and review. If you can obtain a copy at reasonable price do so, you will I’m sure enjoy!
Charles.