Tomás Cotik: J.S. Bach: Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin
Centaur Records

On this double-CD collection, Tomas Cotik marks the tricentenary of J.S. Bach's three sonatas and three partitas for solo violin with a spectacular performance. Compositionally, the writing constitutes an awesome achievement, of course, but impressive too is the Argentine violinist's ability to meet the work's daunting challenges. If anyone's up to the task, it's Cotik, an assistant professor of violin at Portland State University who's been the recipient of numerous international awards and boasts an impressive discography of Naxos and Centaur releases that extends from Mozart and Schubert to Piazzolla.

One of the ways Cotik personalizes his Bach recording is by pairing a Baroque bow with a modern violin. In his estimation, the bow provides a light, resonant sound that enhances articulation of texture, flow of tempo, and expressive potential. An entire universe of emotion is encompassed by this material, some pieces ebullient and sprightly and others lyrical and sober. Needless to say, performing the six works requires a superior degree of virtuosic technique and artistry, but the violinist brings a lifetime of experience, study, and appreciation to an extraordinary performance that can stand up against any other.

As the sheer volume of material presented can seem overwhelming, Frank Cooper's liner notes prove helpful in bringing structural clarity to the six pieces and their presentation. Fundamental contrast is engendered through the alternation of a sonata with a partita, contrast accentuated further in the dance-focused character of the latter. In Bach's six multi-sectional pieces, the first and second pairs are in minor tonalities and the third major. Each of the three sonatas begins with a slow movement; following it is a fugue, then a third movement that's pastoral, tender, and lyrical, and a fourth that's fleet, although progressively less so for each sonata in turn. The first partita establishes its form in sequencing an “Allemande,” “Corrente,” and “Sarabande,” but with a “Tempo di Borea” concluding in place of a “Giga.” In the first partita, each dance is succeeded by a double presenting a variation of different character. The structure changes slightly for Partita No. 2, with the “Allemande,” “Corrente,” “Sarabanda,” and “Giga” capped by a massive “Ciaccona,” its eleven-minute duration equal to the total length of the parts preceding it. The design changes again for the third, with this time a “Preludio” followed by a “Loure,” “Gavotte en rondeau,” two “Menuets,” “Bourrée,” and “Gigue."

As impressive as the technical execution is the emotional articulation in Cotik's interpretations, from the affecting outpourings in the sonatas' slow movements, be it the first's “Adagio,” the second's “Grave,” or the third's “Largo.” Cotik admirably scales the mountain that is the second sonata's “Fuga” in a manner that makes something incredibly challenging appear effortless. Delivered at a dizzying clip, the first sonata's breathtaking “Presto” soars in a flurry of single-note patterns, as does the third's “Allegro assai.” Even more jaw-dropping, however, is the double that follows the first partita's “Corrente,” the variation executed at a speed that'll leave you shaking your head in disbelief.

The first partita ranges from the gracefully flowing “Allemande” to the melancholy “Sarabande”; the third partita has its moments, too, from the joyful high spirits of the “Preludio” and stately “Loure” to the nimble-footed “Menuet I” and breezy “Bourrée.” As memorable as the second partita's mournful “Sarabanda” is, it's overshadowed by the towering “Ciaccona,” the mere fact of Cotik sustaining the performance for eleven minutes amazing when one considers the exhausting level of concentration such a tightrope performance demands. Second in duration to it is the third sonata's “Fuga,” notable for, among other things, the presence of quadruple stops and the graceful lilt Cotik effects in his treatment.  

March 2020