Bach: Cello Suites Nos. 5 & 6

For me, whenever I play the Bach suites, all of a sudden I find myself visualising Giacometti’s hands incessantly moulding the earthen clay until a face appears – his hands engaging with the physical material. And so one becomes aware that the way by which facial features materialize forms an inherent part of the face itself. Getting to grips with the Bach suites is very closely related to that sense. You have to dig deeply into the string to give birth to the phrase, to make sure it breathes correctly: a phrase that is perpetually becoming, endlessly making and remaking itself. I waited a long time before recording these suites. Then one day, or rather one night, I began. It was at Noirlac Abbey, in the monastic refectory. There I recorded Suites 1 and 2, then 3 and 4. I have always loved the idea of taking a route that leads me to a different place. And that is what happened. One day, when I was giving a concert in Metz, at the church of Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains, I thought: ‘This is where I would like to record the two final suites!’ I had already recorded Monteverdi here, in this place where for centuries the stones have heard more than they can tell. Then there was my meeting with Sarah Moon. When I first felt my longing to record the Bach suites, I dreamt constantly of her images; because whenever I look at them I think of the creation of the world, the separation of the waters, the earth appearing, all before the beginning of history.

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