David Russell Plays Bach

With this CD the contemporary master guitarist David Russell pays homage (again) to the great baroque master, Johann Sebastian Bach. In 5 personal arrangements Russell gives us a splendid view of how the Bach masterpieces can sound when performed on the guitar. The transcription of the popular Violin Partita in E Major is a two-step arrangement, being first transcribed by Bach as his Lute Suite No. 4, and then re-done by Russell for guitar. The other pieces required more drastic editing to bring them into range of the guitar's capabilities and idiosyncrasies. On the whole, the pieces convincingly retain their characters in the new guise, providing a fresh and enjoyable slant on some popular old works I would say that probably the most challenging piece is the chorale prelude "Wachet auf ruft uns die Stimme" [Wake up, the voice calls to us]. which is an all-time Bach favorite and is thus widely known and loved in its original form for organ. The piece basically has three things going on simultaneously: a strikingly lovely original Bach melody, an old (1599) hymn tune by Phlipp Nicolai presented polyphonically in separated phrases along with the Bach melody, and a basso continuo providing a harmonic background and a sturdy bass line to complete the package. While the organ piece uses 2 manuals and pedal to carry things off, the guitar has to somehow manage it all with 2 hands manipulating 6 strings. Overall, Russell manages quite well, though occasionally things get a little hard to follow. (The organ has the great advantage of various stops to distinguish voices by contrasting tone qualities, while the guitar is restricted to more or less similar-sounding strings.) The last piece, "Jesu bleibet meine Freude" [Jesus remains my joy], shares some of the difficulty of "Wachet auf," but it comes across very well in the guitar arrangement of the last movement of Bach's Cantata No. 147, where the chorus sings the hymn tune--by Johann Schop, 1641--to Bach's lovely 9/8 time melody. The arrangement of the Violin Partita No.2 in D Minor is highly successful in communicating the essence of Bach's original work for unaccompanied violin. The monumental final movement Chaconne is an especially impressive feat for Mr. Russell. The first piece, the Prelude, Fugue, and Allegro in E-flat Major is a mature work written in the last decade of the composer's life. The Fugue is the longest and most complex of the three movements, and it presents the difficulty of managing multiple contrapuntal voices. Not to worry, though, for all comes across very well under Russell's expert fingers. The performer (and arranger) David Russell, as one of the world's foremost guitarists, is so well-known among lovers of the instrument and its literature that he requires little comment. The Glasgow-born Scot at age five moved with his family to the small Spanish island of Minorca, where he began to study guitar with his father. At 16 he went to London, where he continued studies at the Royal Academy of Music, twice winning the Julian Bream Prize, as well as the Ralph Vaughan Williams scholarship. His name became wider known as he won numerous competitions and awards, and he launched a busy schedule of performances in Europe and the rest of the world. His 2004 Telarc CD album "Aire Latino" won him a Grammy for best classical instrumental soloist. His musical versatility has enabled him to successfully render French, German, Spanish, and Italian works, along with others, in appropriate styles and manners. About 50 years old when he made this recording, he is now just getting into his 60s and has begun to cut back on his performing career, I believe. But in any case his rich legacy of recorded works will enrich us all for many years to come. Mr. Russell plays a guitar made by Matthias Dammann, with strings by D'Addario. Technically, this recording exemplifies Telarc's continuing effort to offer the highest fidelity sonics to the public. The disk, Telarc CD-80584, was recorded March 7, 2001 and April 11-13, 2002 in the Gordon Center for Performing Arts in Owings Mills, MD using microphones by Coles and Sennheiser and a custom engineered 128X oversampling, 20-bit digital apparatus. The recording engineer was Thomas Knab. . Why would anyone want to hear a guitar presentation of these fine Bach works when there are numerous excellent recordings of them in their original forms? Well, perhaps fans of the guitar might be eager to venture beyond the repertoire of original guitar works. Also those willing to hear the works from a fresh viewpoint. I personally enjoy these transcriptions while at the same time cherishing their original forms, which I would never give up. To guitar players and fans of guitar music, as well as to lovers of Bach's music in general I recommend this fine recording.

Like some other reviewers who rate this recording at 5 stars, I too might prefer some other performances in the Chaconne from Partita No. 2. On the other hand, Russell's playing is so extraordinary, I decided to suspend my prior preferences and attempted to hear that one movement as if for the first time. What I heard was a joyous and brilliant expression of pure freedom and mastery. Rather than try to build to an intense sound in the climax, as one often hears (certainly from Milstein's or Grumiaux's violin), Russell seems to accept the limitations of his instrument, steps back, and seems to say, "Well, then, how CAN I bring off this beast of a piece on six plucked strings?" The answer is that instead of trying to make his superb, but limited, guitar match the decibel intensity implied by the music, he understates the whole thing, freeing up his monstrous technique, which he then applies toward the subtlest shades of tempo and dynamics, while racing toward the climactic conclusion (which anticipates the actual anti-climactic conclusion of this piece) with utter abandon. The effect is that the "missing" intensity echoes in the very deep respect Russell has for the sheer volume of notes that the music conjures. He deftly and clearly picks out the tune over that subtley sonic verbiage in a way that leaves no doubt of its intent. I found myself urging Russell forward, but while some who play such music in an understated way leave it hanging, Russell somehow cleans up the loose ends, ties the knot, and truely brings it off--just so.

No matter how many times you hear the same music played by different players, with David Russell it is like you hear it for the first time. But his personal contributions to the interpretation are always of substance, they are never done just for the purpose of being original. As with everything he plays, he can stick to the spirit and style of the music while, at the same time, making it sound fresh and enticing. Just a great Bach recording overall, and especially in the Fugue from the "Prelude, Fugue and Allegro BWV 998" I have never heard such a perfect separation and underlining of the different voices and phrases.

If you were to play this CD for someone who knows little about classical music, they would assuredly say, "Wow, this is really beautiful music." Taking several of his own transcriptions of Bach's music, Scottish guitarist David Russell puts together on this CD a most lovely, satisfying and varied program. His style is warm, ever-smooth, graceful, thoughtful and non-flashy - all of which matches well the temperament of this Baroque music (which obviously is very different than the style used in Spanish guitar music). Technically, he is hard to fault with his silky-smooth (and quiet) hand movements, liquid-like legato and precise articulations. Maybe others might bring slightly more drama to certain part of the music, but I find David Russell's playing most inviting and accessible. His playing is - like is said of the music of Bach - "a treasure to uplift the spirit and refresh the soul." The selections range from the soft-spoken, spiritually-reassuring transcriptions of the choral preludes to the virtuostic pieces like the d minor chaconne (originally for solo violin) and the noble, courtly suites inspired by the dance music of France of that era. Russell's approach and tone here is quite appealing, never overly-dramatic and shows the his talents for transcribing. It is just as wonderful to play as - dare we say - gently stimulating and inspiring 'background music' as it is to listen to and study in depth. His guitar is recorded in a superb sound ambiance that is full, clear and not deficient in any way. Mr. Russell effectively captures the sunny exhuberance and charm of the great lute suite #4 - a composition brimming with many appealing and memorable melodies in the French manner. In his transciption of the violin partita, he brings a soft, tender and meditative quality to the sarabande. In a similar way in the intricate masterpiece chaconne movement, he tames the often 'sharp edges' of the violin versions to reveal a more soft-spoken masterpiece. Of course having six fingers compared to one bow to carve out the inter-twining counterpoint voices makes this easier to sound "seamless" on guitar. He fittingly closes the program with the well-known and loved prelude, "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" - which, according to the CD notes, is actually the title of the famous piano transcription given by Myra Hess. I always thought that was an odd or old-fashioned title. The original title of this choral prelude was, "Jesus remains my joy, my heart's comfort and balm." And David Russell plays this lovely piece with a wonderful warmth that - like the title suggests - is like a balm of comfort and assurance. All said, this is a most beautiful program containing several of the artist's own transcriptions that grows on you with frequently playing. 4.5 stars overall.

Incredible! Listening to David Russell is hypnotizing. The precision and passion that he touches the strings with is so consistent and dead on that you are almost caught between being entranced by the sound and at times wondering if how someone can play so precisely. Normally I am not a huge fan of classical music, but love Spanish guitar music, but upon hearing this album I was utterly entranced. David Russell casts a spell over people with his music. This CD is one you will listen to over and over again.

The music on this cd is simply awe-inspiring. It creates an atmosphere of joy, peace, happiness. it makes one smile. David Russell is one of my favorite classical guitarists, and he readily lives up to his reputation here.

David Russell has joined Christopher Parkening as one of my two favorite classical guitarists, but Russell has a much larger repertoire and brings perfect sensitivity and expression to each and every genre. I own every one of his albums that I can acquire.

David Russell's technique is cleanly and clearly demonstrated on this CD gem. a must for lovers of classical guitar. Thanks MRG for suggesting Russell's work.