Johanna Martzy - J.S. Bach: Violin Sonatas & Partitas, BWV 1001-1006 (2011)

The superb sound quality perfectly complements and supports Martzy's playing, which is thoroughly in the deep-and-involving end rather than the daring-and-scintillating end. There is not a sprung rhythm to be found. This is not Bach with a light touch. Vibrato is plentiful and beautiful. Movements end with "OK, I'm ending now!" ritardandos, which, however, are so well judged as to feel inevitable. Tone is gorgeous, technique assured to the point of transparency. The rhythms are 100% 1st-half-of-20th-century, and in that context are expressive and live. The overall impression is something not quite patrician; serious, yes, and unmannered; loving, but not especially romantic, and nothing like indulgent (again, considering prevailing performance practices of the time). Some movements are heartbreakingly poetic (e.g. Loure in Partita 3) while seamlessly within the flow and shape of the whole composition. To get a quick and dirty sense of Martzy's handling of structure in these pieces, listen in Partita 2 to the Allemande and then skip ahead to the Chaconne. The former is clearly the dramatic opening and the latter clearly the powerful conclusion of one whole musical speech (and the middle movements take the development into the realm of the sublime). This is the composer's original genius, not the violinist's, yet Martzy comprehends each work's wholeness and succeeds in aligning with it gently and firmly while staying out of its way.