More than anything else, these performances of Bach's Cello Suites by Jian Wang breathe. This is not to say that Wang does not have a beautiful tone and a wonderful technique; his tone goes right down into the floor and his technique is luminous and translucent. It is to say that Wang's performances ebb and flow, rise and fall, inhale and exhale with the music. It is to say that Wang's interpretations are quintessentially lyrical, that every line, every phrase, every note sings. It is as if a baritone were performing songs without words on an instrument of bottomless depths and endless nuances. Wang's performances are closer to Yo-Yo Ma's than to Casals in their elegant polish and closer to Maisky's than Fournier's in their emotional subjectivity. For some listeners, while Wang's performances may not sound the depths of Casals, Fournier, Rostropovich, or Maisky, indeed, may not match the less subtle beauty of Ma, his performances are still at least passingly lovely, as long as they last, if ultimately perhaps no more than evanescently lovely. Deutsche Grammophon's digital sound is warm and real.
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