Product Description

Debut solo recording by Johnny Gandelsman, critically acclaimed violinist of Brooklyn Rider and The Silkroad Ensemble!

After spending over a decade recording and producing albums of critically acclaimed groups, Brooklyn Rider and The Silkroad Ensemble, Johnny Gandelsman is finally releasing his first solo album, choosing JS Bach's magnificent Sonatas and Partitas for violin solo as the perfect repertoire for this endeavor. Johnny's unique interpretation integrates his classical training with the work he has been doing with The Silkroad Ensemble and Brooklyn Rider over the last decade. Collaborating with improvisers, commissioning new works from a variety of composers (many of whom are performers,) working with ballet & modern dance companies, as well as working with traditional musicians outside of the Classical music genre - all of these experiences add deep and meaningful layers of connection and dimension to Bach's music.

The Boston Globe praised Gandelsman's performance of Sonatas and Partitas for its ''genial freshness and unaffected sincerity''.

Lloyd Schwartz, describing the concert on NPR's Fresh Air, added, ''I've heard some famous violinists attempt this epic feat, but none of them gripped me and delighted me as thoroughly as Gandelsman.''

Finally, the New York Times called the local performance, ''mesmerizing...a memorable marathon''.

Self-produced by Gandelsman, this record will be a meaningful addition to the existing interpretations of music deeply personal to all violinists.

Review

There are many fine recordings and several great ones of these sonatas and partitas, and now a new one by Johnny Gandelsman takes its place among the very best.

Lloyd Schwartz, NPR's Fresh Air

As a cofounder of the string quartet Brooklyn Rider and a member of the Silk Road Ensemble formed by Yo-Yo Ma, Johnny Gandelsman is one of New York's busier musicians, often working at the intersection of folk, jazz, indie rock, classical music, and dance. 'The feel of dance goes through all of the partitas. Even the fugues have that feel in them. The bow dictates a certain approach, which I was very happy to explore.

Brian Wise, Strings

Sparklingly personal Bach, shorn of grandeur, lofted by a spirit of dance, and as predictable as the flight of a swallow.

Jeremy Eichler and Zoë Madonna, Boston Globe

Sterling attention to line and harmonic implication... The performances abound in nuance and character, with every note, even in multiple stops, emerging in lucid detail... Most arresting is the violinist's ability to tie phrases together with seamless inevitability and provide a fluent sense of structure from beginning to end.

Donald Rosenberg, Gramophone

Surprising and rewarding

Joshua Kosman --San Francisco Chronicle