Mario Brunello and Rachel Podger Flip-Flop

I need to first start by saying what I mean by flip-flop. Both artists have released recordings of Bach's works; Rachel Podger performs the Bach Cello Suites on violin (BWV 1007-1012) and Mario Brunello chooses a violoncello-piccolo to perform the Bach Sonatas & Partitas (BWV 1001-1006).

In the case of the cello, it's a four-stringed instrument tuned like a violin, G-D-A-E. For Podger, she plays her normal violin, from 1739, using a C-string (and editing?) for her recording of the sixth suite.

There is, for sure, a curiousity inherent in hearing music written for one instrument on another; from the point of view of the violinist, to play the pieces on your own instrument might actually be interesting. The same would go for the cellist—why not try this piece or that? For the consumer of these recordings, there's a less personal curiousity, but one that nevertheless had me listening to these recordings. What do the cello suites sound like on the violin? Can the violin sonatas and partitas work on the cello?

I'll satisfy your own curiousity up front: both performers manage decent performances of the works not intended for their instruments. And there is a novelty to the sound—those changes in timbre—when you lose your focus and then suddently realize that the dance you're listening to is rather high. Or in the case of the Brunello recording, why the fugue seems voiced so low.

The sound in Podger's recording has a fair amount of reverb but the sound is good. The timbre of the instrument is piercing and a tad thin. I cannot decide if this my musical memory comparing the pieces to those on a cello or if I'd say the same thing, say, with different repertoire.

The sound in Brunello's recording is not as good. The reverb is especially wet and the microphones are further away. The sound of his instrument, however, is quite nice, offering a luxurious richness to the violin music, an octave lower. So, between them, I cannot pick a winner, but my ears tend to like the acoustic better with the Podger recording.

Which I'll also add that I think Bach's violin music on the cello is a more successful juxtoposition than the cello music on the violin.

Either way, the exchange, the flip-flop is an interesting one, and both performers do an excellent job at approaching the music. Brunello, for instance, slows down some of the violin pieces without losing anything; Podger speeds up the cello pieces with at times playful ornamentation that enhances the music with her freshness.

In the end, call me old fashioned. I think I still prefer the cello suites performed on cello and the violin sonatas and partitas on violin. But if you're itching to hear these iconic pieces in new light, these two albums shouldn't disappoint.