Looking at my shelves for complete recordings of Bach's six sonatas and partitas for solo violin, I find: Kristof Barati, 2009. George Enescu, 1948. Isabelle Faust, 2011. Ning Feng, 2016. Gregory Fulkerson, 2007. Arthur Grumiaux, 1960. Augustin Hadelich, 2020. Jascha Heifetz, 1952. Alina Ibragimova, 2008. Leonidas Kavakos, 2020. Nathan Milstein, 1973. Leila Schayegh, 2020. Oscar Shumsky, 1978. Lara St. John, 2007. Josef Suk, 1970. Christian Tetzlaff, 1993. Antje Weithaas, 2012-17. And that is just those I have who have recorded all six; there are many others who have recorded individual sonatas or partitas. Competition is ferocious.
My latest addition to the line-up of the previous 16 is that of Leonidas Kavakos recorded in 2020. In his written introductory words to Bach's works, Kavakos writes: “The rise of the soul to its purification harmony's rhythm and rhythm's harmony are decisive assistants to each incarnation's personal journey towards achieving catharsis through the experience of life, and thus opening the gate to theosis, the divine aspect of existence.” Whatever that may mean. Fortunately, once Kavakos puts down his pen and picks up his violin bow, we can return to reality.
Kavakos's phasing and articulation sometimes tend towards the interventionist and can to appear to be over-fussy, particularly noticeable in the slower movements of these works; I'm not sure I always like it, but it certainly makes for a more interesting interpretations than much of the smooth, bland playing we often find with other violinists. His choppiness occasionally brings on fear of seasickness, as in the opening Allemanda of the first partita. There has to be an ideal line somewhere between choppiness and complete calm. Kavakos occasionally adds some twiddling ornamentation of his own, notably in the first partita; I don't mind most times, and I'm sure Bach would not either. But I've never noticed it before in the other recordings of the six works. The ciaccona of the second suite comes off really well, though I prefer the ending to be played quietly and peacefully which it is not here, and Kavakos adds some – to my mind – quite unnecessary ornamentation to the final bars. Like the Goldberg Variations, where the theme is restated quietly and simply at the end, so should it be with the ciaccona, I feel. Kavakos is excellent in the three fugues, voicing the parts clearly and expertly. In my days of playing these works, I always left the fugues strictly alone
The recorded sound is OK but would have benefited from a little more air around it; a violin – even a Strad as here -- playing forte up close can become a little strident at times. An excellent set of the sei solo, then, with some wonderful and interesting violin playing. With such ferocious competition, including luminaries such as Heifetz, Milstein and Grumiaux, there can be no “capo di tutti i capi”. Kavakos is well up there with the leaders, but I have minor quibbles to make me hesitate to nominate him as my top choice. His occasional unnecessary ornamentation and fussy phrasing often make me grimace, particularly during some of the slower of the 31 movements that make up the sei solo. Recently, Antje Weithaas pleased me greatly in the complete set (though she also is often an interventionist and a bit fussy). Coming from nowhere, the dark horse Leila Schayegh also gave me a lot of pleasure recently. Spoilt for choice. One day I'll have to record the works myself. Minus the fugues.
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