Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Sonatas And Partitas For Solo Violin: 1. Adagio
2. Sonatas And Partitas For Solo Violin: 2. Fuga. Allegro
3. Sonatas And Partitas For Solo Violin: 3. Siciliana
4. Sonatas And Partitas For Solo Violin: 4. Presto
5. Sonatas And Partitas For Solo Violin: 1. Allemanda
6. Sonatas And Partitas For Solo Violin: 2. Double
7. Sonatas And Partitas For Solo Violin: 3. Corrente
8. Sonatas And Partitas For Solo Violin: 4. Double. Presto
9. Sonatas And Partitas For Solo Violin: 5. Sarabande
10. Sonatas And Partitas For Solo Violin: 6. Double
11. Sonatas And Partitas For Solo Violin: 7. Tempo di Borea
12. Sonatas And Partitas For Solo Violin: 8. Double
13. Sonatas And Partitas For Solo Violin: 1. Grave
14. Sonatas And Partitas For Solo Violin: 2. Fuga
15. Sonatas And Partitas For Solo Violin: 3. Andante
16. Sonatas And Partitas For Solo Violin: 4. Allegro

Disc 2:

1. Partita for solo violin No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004: 1. Allemanda
2. Partita for solo violin No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004: 2. Corrente
3. Partita for solo violin No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004: 3. Sarabanda
4. Partita for solo violin No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004: 4. Giga
5. Partita for solo violin No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004: 5. Ciaccona
6. Sonata for solo violin No. 3 in C major, BWV 1005: 1. Adagio
7. Sonata for solo violin No. 3 in C major, BWV 1005: 2. Fuga
8. Sonata for solo violin No. 3 in C major, BWV 1005: 3. Largo
9. Sonata for solo violin No. 3 in C major, BWV 1005: 4. Allegro assai
10. Partita for solo violin No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006: 1. Preludio
11. Partita for solo violin No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006: 2. Loure
12. Partita for solo violin No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006: 3. Gavotte en Rondeau
13. Partita for solo violin No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006: 4. Menuet 1
14. Partita for solo violin No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006: 5. Menuet 2 - Menuet 1 da capo
15. Partita for solo violin No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006: 6. Bourrée
16. Partita for solo violin No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006: 7. Gigue

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29375 in Music
• Brand: Bach
• Released on: 1998-02-10
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .24 pounds

Amazon.com
Nathan Milstein plays these magnificent pieces with patrician elegance, easily overcoming their all-but-insurmountable difficulties. His burnished tone has a warmth like that of mahogany, and his fine fingerwork and flawless bowing make for an assured connection of ideas. In the Chaconne to the D minor Partita--which can make even a very good violinist sound overmatched and inept--he zeroes in with the sort of concentration one usually sees in chess champions. Here, as elsewhere in the cycle, Milstein projects not only the music's emotive force, but Bach's grand architecture as well. And thanks to the "Originals" remastering, his sound is more burnished than ever. --Ted Libbey

Customer Reviews

A moving account
Before buying this recording, I had not heard or heard of Nathan Milstein; now that I have I thank God I was allowed to hear him before I die. It is not the only recording of the Bach solo violin music worth knowing, but it is a must-have if you love it.

The sheer energy of these performances is remarkable, and it is not generated exclusively by tempo; what should be fast is fast, and what should be slow is slow. Milstein's tone is beautiful, clear and warm, and well-presented by the DG engineers. I am convinced by his phrasing, although I am no expert on this matter. There are one or two places where his intonation wavers just a trifle, but I don't mind that; utterly perfect performances usually bore me. I will accept a couple surface flaws if the performance is intellectually exciting or emotionally involving, and Milstein's is both.

One key consideration in any complete recording of Bach's solo violin music is how the performer handles the D-minor partita; some will mentally "detach" the Chaconne and think about it independently of the other movements, which makes the partita as a whole suffer. Milstein does not make this mistake; the Chaconne feels like it really *does* belong with the other movements.

An excellent recording. Not definitive, but then I don't think you can have a single definitive performance of this glorious music.

Overwhelming
Having heard these pieces a million times by various artists, I purchased the Milstein set. Upon receiving it, my wife suggested going straight to the center of the oreo cookie and listen to the chaconne from partita #2.

After sitting quietly for 14 minutes in stunned silence listening to Milstein saw away at one of the most gorgeous sounding violins these ears have ever heard, we looked at each other and said absolutely nothing.
At that moment it was clear that we had witnessed something truly miraculous. Such absolute control over this collosal work has rarely been heard. Most violinists struggle to move heaven and earth while negotiating the considerable difficulties involved but Milstein plays as though he's got technique to burn, like a Ferrari doing 25mph in a school zone.

Since then, I've obviously heard the entire album and although I must admit it is not my favorite recording, it is by far one of the most powerful and moving accounts on disk. The reason it is not my favorite is because I prefer a smaller sound and less drama in my Bach, a personal preference that all may not share. Listening to Milstein play Bach, as opposed to say, Aaron Rosand, is like listening to Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra as opposed to say, Christopher Hogwood and the Academy of Ancient Music. Hearing Ormandy's ultra-lush, romantic sounding Bach or Handel is just plain wrong, I tell myself, yet it is a delightful indulgence comparable to eating a 16 ounce bar of my wife's finest swiss chocolate, a sin I've been guilty of.

By the way, don't tell my wife I said that. She may take away my Milstein, just to even the score.

Highly Recommended Bach.
Enjoy.

Stupendous technical achievement
If you're going to have one recording of the Bach Sonatas and Partitas, this is it. Milstein was about 70 when he recorded these, and they are technically flawless. I defy you to find another recording with such perfect intonation through the double- and triple-stopping, and such flawless rhythm and bowing. They sound like a young violinist, a Joshua Bell, but Milstein was bringing a lifetime's experience and thinking about Bach and about these sonatas.

If you're not a violinist, you may not know how difficult these are to play, and yet Milstein is so far past the technical challenges and deep into the music. Compare this to the Perlman recordings, which have their moments but overall come off wooden and brittle by contrast.