THE BACH BUBBLE
The Bach Bubble AH artists and managers share their views on – and dispel a few myths about – the composer's solo instrumental works
But, by putting Bach on such a pedestal and applying rules as to when or how artists should perform the works, do we run the risk of making it less accessible for artists, promoters and audiences, and of creating a sense of fear around works held in such high regard? We spoke to cellist Jian Wang (JW), violinist Karen Gomyo (KG), pianist Julien Libeer (JL), and artist managers Alison Nethsingha (AN), Susie Murray (SM) and Olivia Lyndon-Jones (OLJ). For most violinists, cellists and
Jian Wang © Han Jun
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t is an undisputed fact that Bach has had a profound effect on the music and musicians since; not only in the classical world, but further afield into pop, jazz and rock music. Indeed, even American jazz and soul legend Nina Simone is quoted saying “Bach made me dedicate my life to music.”
pianists, Bach's solo works represent something of a pinnacle in their instrument's repertoire. The cello suites, Jian Wang told us, “are the most important pieces in any cellist’s repertoire,” adding that all students should learn them. Though, he says, “It does take a while before one can begin to have a clearer picture of how to play them, but then the process is everything; that's how we grow.” For pianists, however, there is a huge quantity of solo repertoire expanding way beyond Bach. Does that mean that the composer’s keyboard works
don’t hold the same kind of status for pianists as the cello suites do for a cellist or the sonatas for a violinist? “I think it would be odd to be a professional cellist and not to play the solo Bach suites,” says Senior Artist Manager Alison Nethsingha, who manages artists including Jian Wang, Cédric Tiberghien and Imogen Cooper. “For a pianist, you could quite easily go through your whole career and never perform a solo Bach piece, and I don’t think it would be something that anyone would notice or comment on.”
Summer 2019 The Green Room 25
