Renaud Capuçon
(Deutsche Grammophon)
These performances of Bach’s solo works are elegant and persuasive – balancing a modern tone with an alert awareness of period style
To celebrate his 50th birthday, Renaud Capuçon has recorded Bach’s solo sonatas and partitas, works the French violinist has been familiar with since childhood. These impressive accounts are elegant and thoughtful, his generous tone lit up from within with sufficient vibrato to caress the ear while simultaneously acknowledging current thinking on period performance practice.
Tempi are steady throughout, occasionally leisurely in slow movements, but always persuasive. There’s a generous body to his sound and a tasteful restraint when it comes to decoration. Phrasing is instinctual, his articulation of Bach’s fugal elements a model of clarity, while his sure-footed handling of the various doubles and prestos eschews any sense of virtuosity for virtuosity’s sake. In the mighty chaconne that ends the D minor partitas, Capuçon finds a reflective lightness and intimacy that frequently draws the ear.
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