Bach - Suites

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH 6 Suites for solo cello
Valérie Aimard, cello

2 CDs - Label ENPHASES (ENP014)
Released on 6/10/2023 Distribution OUTHERE 

Registration:
Eglise Notre-Dame d’Halsou - France (64)
26 - 28 Mai 2022 (Suites 3 - 4) 
4 - 8 Juillet 2022 (Suites 1 - 2 - 5 - 6) 

Sound recording / Art direction / Editing:
Franck Jaffrès / Unik Access  

Texts: Valérie Aimard 

Traduction: Betsy Schlesinger 

Photos: © Steve Murez

They will forever retain a unique aura among musicians and audiences alike.
They are indispensable to the existence of every cellist.
They were composed at the same time as the Brandenburg Concertos.
You already knew that. But what can be said that hasn't already been said?
The Suites are both very absolute and completely FREE.
There is nothing that is not essential, no gaps, no additions, every note is essential.
Bach's thinking is constantly open: they are suites of successive openings.
He ALWAYS OPENS, he never closes.
No other composer can write such polyphony with a single line.
With one thing, he creates an immensity.
Each moment, played in its singularity, radiates out over the whole.
With a kind of echo of the above, Bach creates a complete, dizzying, UNIQUE space.
You have to deliver both the INSTANT and the UNIVERSE that contains it. To be in the work. Everything is in the music and, at the same time, all the space is left to the performer.
This is music beyond the human. Bach must have existed before Man was created.

I grew up with recordings of the Suites by Pierre Fournier, Paul Tortelier and Pablo Casals. In truth, I never listened much to the Cello Suites, but rather to the Brandenburgs, the Orchestral Suites, the Violin Concertos, the Piano Concertos, the English Suites, the French Suites and, of course, the Well-Tempered Clavier. I was more attracted to Bach's 'everyday' music than to the Cantatas or Passions.
When I was taking part in competitions, I was often told: 'I really liked your Bach'. I didn't really understand why, because I'd only played what was written in the score. That was my secret weapon.
At the end of my studies, I could (perhaps should?) have let myself be caught up in the Baroque wave that was just beginning. But then I met Bernard Greenhouse, the legendary cellist of the Beaux-Arts Trio and a disciple of Pablo Casals. His sincerity, his sense of phrasing, his use of time in interpretation, the simplicity of his technique and the warmth of his sound have always moved me. Meeting him changed my musical life.
The first thing he said to me? Express yourself. It was a shock; no one had ever said that to me.
He taught a very romantic Bach where you were allowed to vibrate, have ideas and be creative. I followed and explored this direction with relish. From time to time, I would play a few Suites here and there, and then I put them aside for a very long time. Chamber music, mime, teaching, musical theatre, contemporary music and exciting encounters have fuelled these rich artistic years.
Until 2017, when a major turning point in my personal life prompted me to immerse myself in them and replay them as they had been engraved in my mind. After a great deal of hard work, I embarked on my first Intégrales in concert. In two concerts, in one concert, in a carefully considered order, in chronological order: in this way I was able to experience the full force of the construction as a whole. It is in their succession that the Suites take on their full dimension.
Once I'd finished this series of Integrales, I said to myself 'And now?

He taught a very romantic Bach where you were allowed to vibrate, have ideas and be creative. I followed and explored this direction with relish. From time to time, I would play a few Suites here and there, and then I put them aside for a very long time. Chamber music, mime, teaching, musical theatre, contemporary music and exciting encounters have fuelled these rich artistic years.
Until 2017, when a major turning point in my personal life prompted me to immerse myself in them and replay them as they had been engraved in my mind. After a great deal of hard work, I embarked on my first Intégrales in concert. In two concerts, in one concert, in a carefully considered order, in chronological order: in this way I was able to experience the full force of the construction as a whole. It is in their succession that the Suites take on their full dimension.
Once I'd finished this series of Integrales, I said to myself 'And now?

Comment graver une musique aussi vivante ?  
Décider pour de bon d’une interprétation ? Fixer pour toujours un tempo ‘ idéal ’ ? 
Tant d’années sont nécessaires à l’élaboration d’une interprétation. Tant de possibilités s’offrent à nous. 
Être l’interprète d’un disque, c’est aussi : écouter pendant des heures les prises enregistrées, choisir celles qui s’harmoniseront le mieux, en abandonner certaines à regret, se laisser séduire par d’autres ( ‘ je ne l’ai jamais joué comme ça ! ’ ), avoir la patience, la ténacité de toujours chercher mieux, de ne pas désespér-er parfois. Peaufiner les plus infimes détails par la subtilité des montages, maitrisés ici à la perfection par Franck Jaffrès, que je remercie pour son expertise et son grand professionnalisme. 
Tout cela contribue à l’interprétation finale proposer sur ce disque. Avec une seule hâte : rejouer les Suites en concert au plus vite, et totalement différemment !

Valérie Aimard