Vancouver-based cellist Ariel Barnes is the second musician to be featured in what we're calling the Canadian Bach Cello Project. Recorded at CBC Studio One in Vancouver, Barnes tackles Bach's sombre Suite No. 2 in D Minor for unaccompanied cello. It's a CBC Music video exclusive.
Here's Barnes performing the Prelude from Bach's Cello Suite No. 2.
When Barnes came to our CBC Vancouver studios to talk about Bach's cello suites, we asked him to pick his three essential recordings of these works.
Like cellist Denise Djokic, who recorded Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 for CBC Music, Barnes chose Anner Bylsma's interpretation as one of his favourites.
#1: Anner Bylsma
"I have to say that the recordings of Anner Bylsma really inspired me to think about the cello suites in a different way. It happened when I was twenty or twenty-one years old. It was a time when I was coming to terms with musicality on my own. I come from a musical family and I've always had lots of influences around me, but I left home and started to discover this music by myself as I reached my adult years."
#2: Steven Isserlis
"Steven Isserlis recently recorded a set of Bach's Cello Suites on Hyperion that I recommend. I've always enjoyed Steven Isserlis, his impeccable intonation, a beautiful flow in his phrasing. He lets the music speak for itself and has beautiful execution. The quality of the sound is very high as you'd expect with his recordings."
#3: Joseph Elworthy
"Joseph Elworthy is a cellist who lives here in Vancouver. He's a friend and a colleague, and I enjoy hearing his rendtions. I've listened to them over and over again. It's a really pure and direct vision of what these suites are."
Related links
CBC Music Bach Cello Suites channel
Classical Music A to Z: Sarabande on CBC video
Cellist Denise Djokic plays Bach