Christian Tetzlaff recorded the Bach sonatas and partitas for solo violin in 1994, for Virgin Classics, a performance that has been repackaged in a terrific four-disc budget set along with Ralph Kirshbaum's readings of the unaccompanied suites for solo cello. This new recording by Tetzlaff, made in 2005, doesn't differ in its fundamentals from the earlier set. His interpretations still have the unusual combination of brisk, Romantic, and detailed. Tetzlaff plays with very little vibrato, but he often pushes the tempo beyond ...
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Christian Tetzlaff recorded the Bach sonatas and partitas for solo violin in 1994, for Virgin Classics, a performance that has been repackaged in a terrific four-disc budget set along with Ralph Kirshbaum's readings of the unaccompanied suites for solo cello. This new recording by Tetzlaff, made in 2005, doesn't differ in its fundamentals from the earlier set. His interpretations still have the unusual combination of brisk, Romantic, and detailed. Tetzlaff plays with very little vibrato, but he often pushes the tempo beyond the confines of the dance rhythms contained in the music; the feel of his playing is sharp rather than graceful. The most expressive aspect of his playing comes not in the tone quality of the violin but in the dynamic contrasts he inserts into the music -- and these are, if anything, intensified in this version as compared with the earlier one. Tetzlaff may be a little chilly for some listeners, but he is among the few violinists who does not seem to be trying to scale the heights...
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