Maya Beiser | Infinite Bach
(Islandia Music)
Did the world really need yet another recording of Bach’s cello suites? Judging by Maya Beiser’s new take on them as reflected on Infinite Bach, the answer is a definite yes. Beiser’s three-CD set of Bach’s six suites for solo cello is at once a staggering performance and a technological wonder, capturing her live performance as well as the acoustical nuances in overtones, reflections, and reverberations that lend the sound a multi-dimensional, breathy quality—a “spatial audio mix.” But all this technology would not amount to a hill of beans if Beiser—who recorded the album in a barn studio at her Berkshires home with the assistance of engineer and sound mixer Dave Cook of Saugerties—had not brought something new and personal to the music, which, as one would expect from this globally recognized virtuoso (a cofounder of the Bang on a Can All-Stars who has recorded works by the likes of Philip Glass, David Bowie, Tan Dun, Steve Reich, Nirvana, and Howlin’ Wolf), she does.
This is not another austere, mathematical rendition of what Bach put to paper, but rather a highly personal, soulful, impassioned rendition of the work. Beiser successfully navigates the divide between rigorous classical approach and her avant-garde leanings. While she breathes new life into it, Bach’s “text” is never toyed with, because Beiser is a fervent believer that Bach’s genius opens the door to “endless interpretation,” or, as the title suggests, “infinite Bach.”
This article appears in November 2023.
