Hopkinson Smith - Cello Suites for Lute

Believe Recordings

£17.30

Format: 2CD
Catalogue No.: E7385
Barcode: 3700187673857
Release Date: 16th April 2021
Genre: Classical

 Being on intimate terms with Bach’s music, having studied it for several decades, Hopkinson Smith is the perfect mediator of these dance movements,
by turns virtuoso and contemplative, constantly highlighting the polyphonic possibilities of the solo cello, somehow intensified by the stirring sound of
the plucked strings, while also bringing out the music’s energetic expressiveness and lyricism.
 It all emerges so naturally under his masterly hands, which have also crafted five of the six transcriptions - the Suite BWV 1011 arrangement being by Bach’s own work.
 “From the very first notes, one is struck by the sheer completeness of the performance,” wrote Classica in March 2013, awarding a ‘Choc’ distinction to the first three Suites. “The choice of keys, the ornamentation, the addition of the bass voices, the rhythmic flexibility, and the way the tempi are adapted to suit the resonance of the instrument: it has all been carefully thought through so as to reach the heart of Bach’s music.”
 This tour de force has made these six works into benchmark recordings without equal, now integrated in this re-issue.
 2CD with 24-page booklet.

Tracklisting:
CD1
Suite no.1 in C major BWV 1007
(cello version in G major)
Prélude
Allemande
Courante
Sarabande
Menuets I & II
Gigue

Suite no.2 in G minor BWV 1008
(cello version in D minor)
Prélude
Allemande
Courante
Sarabande
Menuets I & II
Gigue

Suite no.3 in F major BWV 1009
(cello version in C major)
Prélude
Allemande
Courante
Sarabande
Bourrées I & II
Gigue

CD2
Suite no.4 in B flat major BWV 1010
(cello version in E flat major)
Prélude
Allemande
Courante
Sarabande
Bourrées I & II
Gigue

Suite no.6 in D major bwv 1012
Prélude
Allemande
Courante
Sarabande
Gavottes I & II
Gigue

Suite n° 5 in A minor
BWV 995 / BWV 1011
(cello version in C minor, transcribed by Bach,
transposed by H. Smith)
Prélude
Allemande
Courante
Sarabande
Gavottes I & II
Gigue