Thomas Bowes Archive

Sei Solo = BACH Sonatas and Partitas – Thomas Bowes – Navona Records

by Audiophile Audition | Aug 8, 2018 | Classical CD Reviews

Johann Sebastian BACH. Six sonatas and partitas for violin alone—Thomas Bowes (violin)—Navona Records NV6159—164:00, ***1/2: This recording of Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin, the “Sei Solo,” are recorded across three discs. My immediate reaction was to question why the recording took three discs, while every other recording I have heard took just two. And so I went reading before I listened to try and discover what was novel about this recording from Thomas Bowes. Liner notes are funny things; they’ve long been associated with classical albums and give an opportunity from someone [performer, producer, record label, musicologist, etc., etc.] to educate the listener on some aspect (or many aspects) of the music, the recording, or even the instrument(s) used. And as a collector of albums, I feel qualified in saying that not all liner notes are equal and not all recordings come with them (as is often the case when purchasing re-issues). In 2018, I am not sure we need liner notes in the same way we did in 1998, or we travel back to the origin of the term, from somewhere in the mid-twentieth century when all this commentary was printed on the sleeve of a vinyl record. To […]