Album

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 of these works—the notes obey him, rather than forcing him to obey them. In the big Chaconne that ends the Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004 (CD 2, track 5), he is at his best with a constantly lively reading that slashes through polyphonic passages, springs lightly off of double and triple stops, and fades away to near silence without ever letting things get out of hand. Some might quibble whether Tetzlaff returned "too soon" to these massive challenges of the violin repertory, but the overall effect of these recordings is different from that of the earlier ones—partly because of the very live acoustics of the Norwegian church where the new recording was made. The new recording is sharper and a bit more dramatic, but both approach the Bachian sublime.

© James Manheim, All Music Guide

CD 1 of 2
Johann Sebastian Bach Composer Sonata No.1 for Solo Violin in G-, BWV1001 Work 15:35 Christian Tetzlaff Violin
1	1.Adagio	3:51			$0.99
2	2.Fugue: Allegro	5:11			$0.99
3	3.Siciliano	3:16			$0.99
4	4.Presto	3:17			$0.99
Johann Sebastian Bach Composer Partita No.1 for Solo Violin in B-, BWV1002 Work 25:45 Christian Tetzlaff Violin
5	1.Allemande	4:15			$0.99
6	2.Allemande: Double	2:21			$0.99
7	3.Courante	2:46			$0.99
8	4.Couante: Double (Presto)	3:02			$0.99
9	5.Sarabande	4:05			$0.99
10	6.Sarabande: Double	3:09			$0.99
11	7.Tempo di bourrée	3:11			$0.99
12	8.Tempo di bourrée: Double	2:56			$0.99
Johann Sebastian Bach Composer Sonata No.2 for Solo Violin in A-, BWV1003 Work 21:13 Christian Tetzlaff Violin
13	1.Grave	3:52			$0.99
14	2.Fuga	7:24			$1.49
15	3.Andante	5:01			$0.99
16	4.Allegro	4:56			$0.99
CD 2 of 2
Johann Sebastian Bach Composer Partita No.2 for Solo Violin in D-, BWV1004 Work 27:43 Christian Tetzlaff Violin
1	1.Allemande	4:15			$0.99
2	2.Courante	2:15			$0.99
3	3.Sarabande	4:03			$0.99
4	4.Gigue	3:43			$0.99
5	5.Chaconne	13:27			$2.49
Johann Sebastian Bach Composer Sonata No.3 for Solo Violin in C, BWV1005 Work 21:17 Christian Tetzlaff Violin
6	1.Adagio	3:48			$0.99
7	2.Fuga: Alla breve	9:18			$1.49
8	3.Largo	3:36			$0.99
9	4.Allegro assai	4:35			$0.99
Johann Sebastian Bach Composer Partita No.3 for Solo Violin in E, BWV1006 Work 17:54 Christian Tetzlaff Violin
10	1.Prelude	3:18			$0.99
11	2.Loure	4:40			$0.99
12	3.Gavotte en rondeau	2:55			$0.99
13	4.Menuet 1 and 2	1:39			$0.99
14	5.Bourrée	2:26			$0.99
15	6.Gigue	1:14			$0.99
16	6.Gigue	1:42			$0.99