JS BACH: THE SIX CELLO SUITES PERFORMED ON VIOLA Patricia McCarty - viola Ashmont Music 6100 2 CDs, full price

Bach's six solo cello suites have, in recent years, found other instruments as excellent vehicles for their performance, which include not only other stringed instruments, but also the clavichord and flute, both excellent mediums for conveying their expressive qualities. If nothing else, these realisations provide an example of how Bach's music transcends the restrictions upon which those of a more purist disposition often insist; indeed Bach himself is well-known for his transcriptions of music from one medium to another: not only did he arrange others' orchestral compositions for keyboard, but also reused his own material in new compositions, suggesting that he did not see music and instrumentation as fixed and immovable. Furthermore, in a letter of 1774, CPE Bach indicated that his father's preferred stringed instrument was the viola, a comment that supplies sufficient evidence to suggest that the suites could easily have been played in the Bach household using that very instrument. Thus, several precedents suggest that the viola is a more than acceptable medium for their performance, as demonstrated by several releases of other similar recordings of the same music.

McCarty is well-known as an exponent of solo viola music, and although her principal concerts in recent years have included a good deal of Romantic and 20th-century works, it is pleasant to see such a stylistically-aware performance as here. Stylistically-aware, however, does not necessarily amount to a lack of passion, and there are several places where her approach is slightly too timid, failing at times to exploit the full capabilities of the viola's wide range of tonal possibilities. Its sonority is very different to the cello and, in such instances as the Prelude and Saraband from the d minor suite, a slightly more aggressive tone and dynamic range would project the music more convincingly. It would also provide more direction, as is found in Simon Rowland Jones' excellent (and very different) approach on Meridian (CDE 87324/843270). His sound is more luxuriant than McCarty's, who plays with a slightly more wiry tone that, at times, lacks neither Rowland Jones' variety nor vitality.

On the whole, however, this recording comes highly recommended since McCarty's playing is unpretentiously musical, poised, and displays a keen sense of intonation, structure and purpose, making this recording worthy of addition to any collection.

John Woodford