[JohnR]

As a bass player myself, I can tell you that some of the cello suites are nearly impossible on bass!

 




They're not that easy on cello either

[pheesama]

I have only one version: R. Cohen, released  on Collins
I would like to have chances to listen to many different interpretations. Unfortunately, I am too far away from classical Cd stores. So I do grasp what ever comes within my reach.

On the one hand I find that listening to virtuosis playing without to fail or to go off the track making their playing dur- hard sounding. On the other hand, newbies play with effort and failure. These give much essence and lifely when listening to.

[jerryleefish]

 I play them daily and have the Casals and Maisky CDs. The Casals are classics
after all he was resposible for reserecting them. He shows amazing virtuosity
at the expense of musicality, however, and his tempos are too fast. Maisky, on the other hand is more into the beauty of the suites using meaningful tempi and lovely expression.

[richidoo]

This is my favorite:
http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=520114

Serious, not sappy, and awesome sound. Winner 2007 Grammophone best instrumental recording.

[jerryleefish]

A further word about the suites. The best interpretations seem to come from Cellist  who  usually specialize in the Baroque genre. When the renown cellist Emmanual Fuermann had his New York debut his Bach didn't go over  but the Romantic works were well received. Players like Koopman, and Maisky also play the Viola da Gamba which is a true Baroque instrument. This means the Suites are more insightful to them. I once sat on a  plane behind Pierre Fornier
his Cello was on the seat beside him.

[jerryleefish]

I find
the first and third Suites to be  somewhat difficult. Two, more so 4,5 and six very challenging.
 




They're not that easy on cello either

[goldlizsts]

A further word about the suites. The best interpretations seem to come from Cellist  who  usually specialize in the Baroque genre. When the renown cellist Emmanual Fuermann had his New York debut his Bach didn't go over  but the Romantic works were well received. Players like Koopman, and Maisky also play the Viola da Gamba which is a true Baroque instrument. This means the Suites are more insightful to them. I once sat on a  plane behind Pierre Fornier
his Cello was on the seat beside him.

Has anyone heard Luigi Piovano's on Eloquentia?

[BobMajor]

I have ten versions of the cello suites. Of course all of the artists are great. My favorites won't necessarily be someone elses. My favorite "historically informed performance" by Roel Dieltiens is quite lean.
Less radically HIP is Maria Kliegel on Naxos. An excellent performance at a budget price. I also like Ralph Kirshbaum's performances very much.
The earlier performance by Yo-Yo Ma is very good but the sound quality is somewhat dead. (The later performance is not recommended).

[roymail]

Paolo Pandolfo (Part 1 & 2)  Bach Cello Suites.  Beautiful and very well recorded.

[jeffh]

I really appreciate threads like this that help me find great music.  If any of you are Spotify users (I use the free plan), I did a search on "Bach Cello Suites" and found dozens of albums for your listening pleasure. Great way to find the one you want to buy.  Here are just a few of the versions on Spotify:

Edgar Meyer – Bach: Unaccompanied Cello Suites - Performed on Double Bass
Ralph Kirshbaum – Bach - Cello Suites
Yo-Yo Ma – Bach: Cello Suites Nos. 1, 5 & 6
Mstislav Rostropovich – Bach: Cello Suites
Yo-Yo Ma – Bach: Unaccompanied Cello Suites (Remastered)
Pablo Casals – Bach: Cello Suites
Pau Casals – Bach Suites Para Cello

[sibelius]

I have 5 versions:

Bylsma - Sony Vivarte
Casals - EMI
Ma - CBS
Schiff - EMI
Startker - Mercury

The one I keep coming back to the most is the Bylsma. 

[Soundminded]

Here we favor the Maisky set on DG. They're available on DVD. You can several of them on YouTube. They seemed to just blow everyone else away with their etherial quality.  He milked every nuance for all it was worth. The reverberant venue where it was recorded also played a significant role in enhancing their sound quality.

The recordings he made when his hair was black are IMO far superior to what he recorded later when his hair turned white. Don't know if that or aging had anything to do with it but you'd hardly know it was the same cellist.  Maybe he should try Just For Men. It might bring his playing back to life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6yuR8efotI

And here's how he played it years later. Faster and far less nuanced. He just seems to dash it off. Not in the same league

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk8QNzkzwYg

[ClefChef]

Being a musician (violinist) and having been a student I played Bach suites (for violin). We were indoctrinated with "academic" treatment of Bach, until I heard Rachel Podger that is.
My favorites of Bach Cello suite recordings - Ralph Kirshbaum and Heinrich Shiff.

[JBrahms]

I will revive this to cast my lot with the Maurice Gendron recording. The opening minute of 2 is also my quick equipment evaluation guide and I could listen to it a million times.

Sometimes I laugh when I think that I didn't even owe this piece for the first 30 plus years of my life.

Just bought the Rostropovich today, first impression is that it's all over the place.