“A cellist to follow” – Classica
The Suites for Solo Cello by Bach from Tatjana Vassiljeva do not surprise, but that does not stop them from amazing and delighting.
Tatjana Vassiljeva’s Bach Suites give off a feeling of bareness, with an obvious sadness. The cellist says she plays them for herself.Recorded in a very dry acoustic, she takes the risk of putting her cello and its sonority in a state of nakedness which allows her to break away from the uninterrupted sonority of the ‘romantic’ interpretation and to give a great lightness to her legato.
It is without doubt this that distinguishes her from all the other interpreters of today, who have been recorded with a reverberation that gives more of a lyric élan to their playing. The musician plays with short phrases, with the most striking contrasts of phrase, and with a presence of silence unknown until now.
Technically masterfull, Vassiljeva’s version lies between baroque and classic: her tempi, often animated but sometimes very slow, are striking for their stability, including in the slow movements. More baroque in her approach to sonority than many other ‘modern’ cellists, she plays with clarity of articulation and phrasing superior to her baroque colleagues, all the while keeping a varied sonority which is never too thick.
The musician offers us a kind of winter’s journey, full of sadness without pathos, and with an elegant simplicity. In certain respects, she reminds us of Fournier.
Stéphan Vincent-Lancrin – Classica
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