Bruno Philippe records Bach's Suites for Cello
The short of this new recording is that I think it offers some insight into some interesting if not original interpretive ideas about Bach’s cello suites by an artist who has some amazing technical powers. It is, however, an example of a growing number of HIPP-influenced interpretations that gets some elements but may toss others aside. HIPP is more than just what instrument, strings, or bow is used; it’s an understanding of the rhetorical elements that make up short(er) phrases, the model of dances for the suites, and inherent in those dances, the strong and weak beats the propel the music forward.
While it’s my opinion that some of these ideas might be tweaked a bit (and not worked out in the days or hours before the recording was made—read the notes, for sure), one cannot ignore the rather close recording and all the extraneous bits that come along with a closely-miked instrument. I only wish we had the power, post-production, to light up another set of microphones set further away.
The final Gigue of the fourth suite, BWV 1010 sounds rushed to the point of getting sloppy in a few spots. In the context of a live performance, one might chalk it up to exuberance in the moment, but in a recording, the feeling of rushing beyond what one can reasonably play cleanly, editing be damned, just seems a curious artistic choice.
The Courante in the sixth suite, BWV 1012, is played in much the same way, but the technical feat comes across far better. But after the slower Allemande the Courante ends up sounding a bit like a misplaced virtuosic tour-de-force among other movements which might otherwise feel at home with similar bustling energy. Maybe pairing the energy of the Gigue from that suite, as recorded, would have ultimately helped to make these two feel as if they came from the same suite?
The Courante of the second suite, BWV 1008, also seems like it’s been pushed just one degree too far; a few of the endings of phrases almost feel thrown away. Clearly when the Sarabande starts, we go (back) to another world again. Courantes played this way make for some exciting music, but they do, ultimately, play a role among the other dances of the suite that just seem too disconnected when played linearly, as written.
What I really do like about Philippe’s playing is how he treats repeats. He is pretty consistently adding ornamentation to make the repetitions different enough for us to notice, and seemingly in good HIPP taste. It’s something I wish more artists did. Repeats are the best place to get inventive and to tease us with new possibilities.
The fifth suite’s Courante comes across as interesting with where Philippe puts his strong beats, almost to the point of saying it’s a parody of the way it is supposed to be played; the repeats, however, point to one of the high points of the album, turning initial surprise or shock into something very satisfying. I wish I could be as complimentary about the the Sarabande that follows. Its flatness pushes it into abstract territory.
Ultimately I feel the reason why a young artist would take on the Bach suites in a crowded canon of recordings is to be noticed. My current reference has been the third recording by Peter Wispelwey, which isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I always felt he brought a consistent voice across the set and balanced the choices he made. This recording is less balanced in this regard, but nevertheless, has some new and interesting ideas on offer and I believe partitally benefits introducing the artist to a larger audience with a major solo recording.
Listening to the album however with headphones was simply annoying with the sounds of breathing, fingers tapping on the instrument, and ultimately the sense that I was just too uncomfortably close to the artist. The effect I find is less tiresome with the use of speakers, but those noises are still present.
This album by Philippe does offer, I think, many enjoyable moments despite my reservations. His treatment of dances, and especially the pairs of dances (minuets and bourées) offer some variation in tempo which I think are musically satisfying but betray what might otherwise be a consistent pulse. If you, like me, have a wide variety of recordings of these suites in your collection, this one in the company of others will invite many comparisons. I can see why Harmonia Mundi made the decision to release another recording of the Bach suites into the wild. It should garner strong if not diverse opinions among the cognoscenti and connoisseurs of Bach on the cello (the one played between the legs and not the competing fashion to playing one you strap over your shoulder).
