Is there any need for yet another recording of
Bach's Sonatas & Partitas for solo violin? There have been so many great recordings -- the
Szeryng, the
Milstein, the
Végh, the
Heifetz -- that surely there could be no need for yet another. But while there may be no need for just another recording, there is always a need for another great recording and, surely,
Mela Tenenbaum's is another great recording.
Tenenbaum is a very ardent musician whose
Bach is irresistibly expressive, overwhelmingly passionate, and unreservedly loving.
Tenenbaum has known the Sonatas & Partitas since she was a child and her interpretations are the results of her long and profound intimacy with the music. As in a great marriage,
Tenenbaum knows everything there is to know about the Sonatas & Partitas and she knows the music has depths that reveal themselves only when the player surrenders to them. And as in a great marriage,
Tenenbaum gives herself wholly to the music and the music supports, sustains, and ultimately transforms her performances into something more than, greater than, herself. ESS.A.Y.'s sound is true like ice, like fire.