Isabelle Faust - J.S. Bach - Sonatas & Partitas BWV 1001-1003 (2012)

Following up on the 2010 release of Volume I of J.S. Bach's sonatas and partitas for solo violin, which covered BWV 1004-1006, Isabelle Faust presents BWV 1001-1003 on the second volume, her 2012 release on Harmonia Mundi. For the first installment, she garnered critical acclaim and popular praise for her unstinting scholarship and unparalleled virtuosity, and the same applies to the long-awaited completion of the project. As in her previous performances, Faust uses the manuscript as her source and is careful to get all details right, while finding the proper balance between Bach's expression and her own. Faust plays a Stradivarius violin from 1704, nicknamed "Sleeping Beauty," and her tone is pure and radiant, despite some unavoidable but minimal scratchiness on double-stops, and she has a slight vibrato that she uses sparingly, almost as embellishment, in keeping with Baroque practice. The sonatas and partitas are virtuoso works where everything is exposed and a violinist's abilities are put to the ultimate test, not only in managing technical difficulties, but also in imagining the sounds, ornaments, textures, timbres, and nuances that Bach implies in his writng. Faust is one of the few artists to withstand the toughest scrutiny, and her set is highly recommended for her extraordinary fidelity to the music and true artistry.