Itzhak Perlman's “Bach: Sonatas & Partitas” album re-released on vinyl

Available at select Barnes & Noble stores: Itzhak Perlman’s “Bach Sonatas and Partitas”

Itzhak Perlman’s “Bach: Sonatas & Partitas” re-released on vinyl for a limited time through Barnes & Noble

Itzhak Perlman’s renowned album “Bach: Sonatas & Partitas” is available on vinyl for a limited time from select Barnes & Noble stores. The recent re-release of the renowned album has given listeners a chance to reconnect with the extraordinary works for the unaccompanied violin. Perlman chose authenticity through the score itself over musicological research when preparing the Bach Sonatas and Partitas. He believed that “music is a language, and, performed responsively, with musical logic as guide, it will make sense.”

Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas are one of the greatest works for solo violin and they marked a significant development in music history. There is no other composer before or since who has created architectural masterpieces and exploited the polyphonic capabilities of the violin as did Bach in this set of six works. Instrument-making was also growing at the time by experts in the field such as Niccolò Amati and his pupil Antonio Stradivari. This created an opportunity for performers and composers to push the boundaries of the violin such as the tone and power of the instrument. Paganini along with other virtuosos of the nineteenth century are known to have broadened the instrument’s technical capabilities but credit is given to Bach who had already explored the limits of polyphony.

Perlman had previously recorded the set but nothing was ever released. He performed the set live on different stages and venues around the world. Perlman was determined to wait until he had accomplished a high level of performance and understanding before committing to the disc. Some ears may be able to detect the difference in tone between the C major and A minor Sonatas as one was recorded on the “Soli” Stradivarious and the other four works were recorded on the Guarneri del Gesù “ex-Sauret”.

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