Images: ©️ CTM Records / Amit Peled
A significant point of interest in this lovely recording is the instrument – A Goffriller cello formally owned by Pablo Casals, his favorite instrument and the one in which he reportedly made his pioneering recording of Bach’s 6 unaccompanied Cello Suites in the 1930s. The old recordings themselves, never out of the catalog, are understandably lacking in dynamic range and tone subtleties, but one can certainly hear some qualities which remain in this new recording: A deep, resonant low registered and a dark middle that stretches to the high notes as well.
In today’s standards, Casals’ performances may sound problematic for their intonation inaccuracies or emotional intensity. We have all got accustomed to a cooler, more accurate approach, not to mention the many lessons taken from the period instrument performers. This is to say that Amit Peled had to find his own voice, so to speak, rather than merely imitate the old master.
Happily, it’s a superb performance, warm-hearted, knowledgable and deeply felt. The tempo of the first prelude of the G major suite is paced just right, and it’s a hint of what’s to come; The Courante really dances without sounding exaggerated (a tendency Yo-Yo Ma’s latest account suffered from), and in the Sarabande, Peled is pure yet effectively projected.
The comparison with Casals’ version is fascinating, for differences of approach in no less measure than for the way with the instrument; Casals, for instance, took the suites dead serious, while Peled let himself smile from time to time (listen to the Bourree in the Third Suite for example). Casals’ Sarabandes were lacking in composure and was rather hefty on the tempo. Peled is more in control, shaping each phrase with shorter bows and a better overview of the entire movement.
The album is getting better with each suite, the second and third again taking off in the faster dance movements and the flowing Sarabandes. The Third Suite is perhaps the best performance here – the Allemande exquisitely done, on par with the best. Good recording too, taken last year at a studio in Spencerville, Maryland.
Comparisons are, naturally, vast. In some cases, Peled can stand the comparison, especially with the quite special account of the Third Suite. To be ruthlessly oppositional, from the two camps of approaches, the free, almost romantic approach of Cellists such as Fournier, Rostropovich and, well, Casals’ on the one side, and the cooler, more “classical” approach of performers such as Yo-Yo Ma, or Lynn Harrell – Peled clearly belongs to the former. There is a charming sense of “old school” playing here, and that’s a good thing.
