Shop Now

The Chronicle Review Corner

The Six Suites for Solo Cello  by Bach, composed around 1720, are generally regarded as the first and greatest masterpieces ever written for the instrument and here, they’re played magnificently. What’s left to say?

We Googled around for a bit and found a website dedicated solely to cellos and Bach’s six suites, which commented on the unbelievable amount of resin on Ms Tarasova’s instrument’s fingerboard, which said that she had taken the diametrically opposite approach to the suites’ more usual “overly academic and formal” performances.

The review rather gloriously adds: “If when you were younger you enjoyed the film Spinal Tap and now you are older and into classical music, you might like this performance”. We think it was suggesting that she’s turned everything up to 11 and while energetic and well played, it lacks subtlety.

The reviewer means people like us. We like the album a lot, and it ranges in tone from the timeless gravitas that only the cello can provide to lighter sections, and from the dramatic to the more playful. Tarasova plays what must be highly technical sections with aplomb, and it’s all very listenable, and makes for nice music to work to.