Tabea Zimmermann: Solo II

While separated by 10 years, these two recordings together offer all four of Bach's Suites for Solo Cello arranged for viola, superbly performed by Tabea Zimmermann. In each album, the Bach Suites are separated by complementary works by contemporary composers. In Solo 1, Zimmermann has chosen the three Suites for Solo Viola by Max Reger. In Solo II, she gives us six pieces for viola from Signs, Games and Messages by György Kurtág. Both choices work very well contrasting, but not clashing, with the Bach Suites.

The Kurtág works I found intriguing, as much for their inherent beauty as for their intimacy. Among the pieces is "…eine Blume für Tabea…" ("A Flower for Tabea"), dedicated by Kurtág to Zimmermann after the untimely death of her husband. "There seems to be no beginning and no end in this piece. It requires the most delicate tones—mere suggestions, and then it's already over, as if Kurtág had wanted to set the fleeting passage of time to music." A friend of mine describes this work as "a haunting minute of two voices talking through time." And it does play softly, so turn up the volume and do not miss this piece. It is treasurable.

Enjoy for the Reger and Kurtág works; they are well worth the journey. Treasure the album for her Bach. Altogether, a very nice album.

Ten years after her acclaimed solo album with J.S. Bach's first two Cello Suites, violist Tabea Zimmermann performs Suites Nos. 3 and 4, plus extracts from Gyorgy Kurtag's cycle "Games, Signs and Messages".

To interpret these Bach suites, you need a great virtuoso. Tabea's playing is perfectly fluid and perfectly gives the illusion of a counterpoint or / and a low figure. It is very pleasant to revel in such an interpretation on a viola.

Artistic Quality: 4.5 out of 5
Sound Quality: 5 out of 5
Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5

It comes as a revelation to hear Bach's cello suites performed on a viola by this great German musician, Tabea Zimmermann. Here they have a dynamism never achieved on the cello, and her playing has a wonderful eagerness and persuasiveness.

But the six works by the enigmatic Gyorgy Kurtag – who devotedly plays Bach on the piano - are no less of a revelation: with the shortest lasting just 45 seconds and three just over one minute, Their grouping (by Zimmerman) into a suite to echo Bach’s six-movement works creates a brand-new sound-world. With no bar-lines and almost no speed markings, they present big challenges: at one point, says the violist, the left hand must be so tense that it hurts. Tersely suggestive, and at times emotionally explosive, these little pieces open intriguing new landscapes.