Bach: Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violoncello Piccolo Mario Brunello

• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750): Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, BWV 1001:
• 1Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, BWV 1001: I. Adagio04:07
• 2Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, BWV 1001: II. Fuga (Allegro)06:56
• 3Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, BWV 1001: III: Siciliana03:20
• 4Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, BWV 1001: IV. Presto04:23
• Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002:
• 5Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002: I. Allemanda - Double09:47
• 6Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002: II. Corrente - Double (Presto)10:05
• 7Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002: III: Sarabande - Double06:00
• 8Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002: IV. Tempo di Borea - Double08:23
• Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 1003:
• 9Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 1003: I. Grave03:57
• 10Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 1003: II. Grave09:23
• 11Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 1003: III: Andante05:22
• 12Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 1003: IV. Allegro07:04
• Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004:
• 13Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004: I. Allemanda04:03
• 14Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004: II: Corrente03:20
• 15Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004: III: Sarabanda04:41
• 16Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004: IV: Giga05:09
• 17Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004: V. Ciaccona16:00
• Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1005:
• 18Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1005: I. Adagio04:34
• 19Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1005: II: Fuga13:07
• 20Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1005: III: Largo03:52
• 21Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1005: IV. Allegro assai06:13
• Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006:
• 22Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006: I. Preludio04:40
• 23Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006: II: Loure03:55
• 24Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006: III. Gavotte en rondeau03:14
• 25Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006: IV. Menuet I01:49
• 26Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006: V. Menuet II02:41
• 27Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006: VI. Bourrée02:08
• 28Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006: VII. Gigue02:15
• Total Runtime02:40:28

Info for Bach: Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violoncello Piccolo

Since winning the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1986, Mario Brunello has established himself as one of the foremost living cellists. An eclectic musician, for some years Brunello has also taken an interest in the world of historically informed performance practice and the rediscovery of the four-string ‘violoncello piccolo’. This instrument, slightly smaller than the cello, is known today for its presence in some sacred cantatas of Bach, but it was surely used much more widely in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries than the currently known repertory would lead us to think.This recording of the Sonate & Partite per violino solo inaugurates the collaboration on the Arcana label with a ‘Bach Brunello Series’ of three CDs, in which important compositions for the violin from his catalogue will be performed on the violoncello piccolo. The booklet includes texts by Bach scholar Peter Wollny and Italian writer Alessandro Baricco.

‘I want to approach the Sonatas and Partitas “from the ground up”, in every sense. Violinists “fly high”, they are always on top of the melody, they see the music from above. I am therefore not proposing an imitation of the violin, but rather a specular reading, a conquest of the summit by another route. A mountain seen from the south or from the north changes the perspective, but not the substance.’ (Mario Brunello)

Mario Brunello, cello

Mario Brunello
In 1986 Mario Brunello was the first Italian ever to win the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, which launched him into a stunning international career. Brunello has played with some of the most prestigious orchestras, including the London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, London Symphony, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio-France, NHK Symphony Tokyo, Kioi Sinfonietta, Filarmonica della Scala, Accademia di Santa Cecilia, DSO Berlin. He has collaborated with conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Yuri Temirkanov, Antonio Pappano, Manfred Honeck, Riccardo Chailly, Riccardo Muti, Vladimir Jurowski, Ton Koopman, Daniele Gatti, John Axelrod, Myung-Whun Chung, Seiji Ozawa and Claudio Abbado. Abbado has, over the years, invited Brunello several times to play with him and the Orchestra of the Lucerne Festival and the Mozart Orchestra. With both orchestras, Brunello has appeared as a soloist and as a conductor.

He often takes on the double roles of conductor and soloist, and in 1994 he founded the Orchestra d'Archi Italiana with whom he tours intensively both in Italy and abroad.

Chamber music plays an important role in his artistic life and he collaborates with artists including Gidon Kremer, Martha Argerich, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Isabelle Faust, Yuri Bashmet, Maurizio Pollini, Valery Afanassiev, Andrea Lucchesini, and the Hugo Wolff Quartet.

Brunello also devotes much time to projects involving diverse art forms (literature, philosophy, science, theatre). Through new ways of communication, he tries to attract new audiences, creating interactive performances of music, images and words. A large number of these activities take place in Antiruggine, a remodelled workshop that is ideal for these experiments.

His recordings include Dvorak Cello Concerto recorded live in Rome with the Accademia di Santa Cecilia Orchestra and Antonio Pappano (EMI), Beethoven Triple Concerto w i t h t h e M o z a r t Orchestra and Claudio Abbado (DGG) and a five-CD box set entitled “Brunello Series" on Egea Records containing: “Odusia” a CD dedicated to the Mediterranean culture, “Brunello and Vivaldi” dedicated to Vivaldi Cello Concertos, “Violoncello and” a CD with contemporary works for solo cello, “Schubert e Lekeu” with the pianist Andrea Lucchesini and a double CD with a new recording of Bach Cello Suites, this last awarded w i t h the “Italian Critic Award 2 0 10”.

The most recent release is a DVD of Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto n. 2 recorded live at Salle Pleyel in Paris with Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra.

2016/17 season highlights include appearances in many of the world’s most prestigious venues: Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Kioi Hall in Tokyo, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Teatro La Scala in Milan with Myung-whun Chung and La Filarmonica. This season also sees performances at Die Glocke in Bremen, Philipszaal in Eindhoven, National Gallery in London. Brunello returns to Tokyo and Nagoya with an important project for the winners of the prestigious Tchaikovsky Competition.

Brunello has been Artist-in-Residence at MiTo Festival 2016, where he performed six concerts, two of them both as a conductor and soloist with Turin Filarmonica.

In 2017 he will start an ambitious project celebrating J.S. Bach’s string music, exploring the complete Bach Cello Suites and Sonatas and Partitas originally for violin, performed on the cello piccolo.

Mario Brunello plays a precious Maggini cello from the 1600s.

Booklet for Bach: Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violoncello Piccolo