JS Bach Partitas & Sonatas, BWV 1001-1006 Bojan Čičić (baroque violin) Delphian DCD34300 146:01 mins (2 discs)
In 1754 Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach first documented the importance of his father’s Partitas and Sonatas to those intent on mastery of violin. Composed in 1720, these works are now synonymous with artistic and technical virtuosity. After Sergiu Luca’s pioneering 1977 recording major figures in historical performance followed suit, including Kuijken, Schröder, Huggett, van Dael, Wallfisch, Podger, Holloway, Beznosiuk, Ibragimova and Biondi.
Bojan Čičić rightly joins such distinguished company, and his interpretations are both visceral and thoughtful, underpinned by a magisterial virtuosity. Disc one displays commanding immediacy in Partita one’s Allemande, breathtaking technique in the Double II, and thoughtful fluency in Partita two’s Courante and Gigue. Čičić gifts the monumental Chaconne with an authoritative spontaneity – the demisemiquaver section is thrilling and compelling. Partita three’s Prelude is timbrally bright and rhythmically arresting, and subtle ornamentation in the Gavotte and Rondo is stylish and never indulgent. On disc two Čičić portrays the breadth of the three sonatas with aplomb. His instinct for Bach’s textural innovation is superb, not least in sonata two’s fiendish Fugue. Cleverly utilising the medium of recording Čičić gives listeners, his and Bach’s, a chance to encounter fugue as a lived experience.
Čičić balances intimacy and the need for projection, always a challenge when recording. This release must surely become a reference recording, particularly for the next generation to whom Čičić is very deeply committed.
Ingrid Pearson