Pavlos Carvalho

 Pavlos Carvalho, St. Paul's Church, Chichester, July 5

The second of my voyages out for the resurrection of the live music habit was to see the much-loved cellist, Pavlos. My own website comes in useful as my own record of what I saw when and a pattern is emerging by which I see him every two years. Having seen him do nos. 1 and 3, then 3 and 5 and now 1 and 2 of the Bach Cello Suites, it is to be hoped that in 2023 he'll do 4 and 6.

We had our doubts about the acoustics in St. Paul's Church but we need not have worried. The sound was immediately resonant and not much resounds as well as the opening of Suite no. 1 in G major, its relatively simple construction (when you breakm it down) sounding all-encompassing, like the first notes of The Well-Tempered Klavier, and all else follows as if by some pure but inventive logic of its own.

The same music can sound different every time one hears it. I wouldn't want to line up my favourite musicians - Steven Isserlis, Yo-Yo Ma, Natalie Clein, Mstislav Rostropovich, Pablo Casals et al and stretch my limited musical vocabulary to beyond breaking point by saying what the differences were in their Bach suites but Pavlos here began methodically, it seemed to me, setting it out clearly and unhurriedly. That changed in the Sarabande, which quickened the pulse and the dance steps.

Pavlos is always as convincing as a talker as well as a cellist and not only enlightening but uplifting to listen to. He could talk all day as well as play all day and, with a young student of his in the front row, must make for an inspirational teacher. The one word, among the numerous, to save from his talk between the two suites was 'cathartic', and having checked - not wanting to trip over its meaning - it is,

providing psychological relief through the open expression of strong emotions.

 

And, yes, that is Bach more than any other artist and especially in the music for solo instruments whether it is the keyboard work, for preference these days on the piano that he wouldn't have heard it on, violin or cello. It's not that other composers aren't but none are so thoroughly cleansing as Seb.

I was also grateful for the explanation of the 'Neapolitan Sixth' chord although I'm hoping there isn't a question about it in the exam.

The second Suite is pre-dominantly darker with the lower register suggesting doubt more than exuberance. Not for the first time one wondered how much, if anything, Bach owed to St. Colombe and Marin Marais, so memorably re-created by Depardieu pere et fils, in Tous les Matins du Monde, because phrases from Jordi Savall's soundtrack echoed regularly for anybody familiar enough with it. 

Again in no. 2, the contrast was between the tempi of the first movements and the sudden energy injected by the Sarabande. I wasn't aware of such a difference before and wonder if this is something Pavlos is emphasizing. Not all of the echoes of St. Colombe's viol support his contention that these suites are not to be taken too seriously but their greatness lies in their capacity to be what you want them to be and find so much in them. Bach reportedly said that all his music was written 'for the glory of God' but it is also suggested that pieces like this, The Art of Fugue, the keyboard Inventions were studies for instrumental practice whereas one book is dedicated to the missus so we had better not worry why Bach wrote what he did but that he did and that, in a long-treasured phrase from Michael Bywater in the Independent on Sunday in the 1990's, he 'flatters us by being of the same species'.  That was in the context of some Bach music being sent out in to space in the hope that other 'intelligent' life would understand it which Michael thought was 'just showing off'.

The Suite no. 2 in D minor carries forward the impetus of the Sarabande to a thrilling ending that gave Pavlos's fingers a good work out on his fretboard.

It's colossal. It's almost certain to make you feel better for having been there. This is one great ambassador for music, for the cello and for Bach. His recording of this music was stalled after finishing the first three for reasons that have been widely reported in the news but those will soon be available digitally before the other three are recorded and, so he says, we might have the discs in six months. Not being an optimist myself, I think we'll be glad of them once we have our hands on them. While I'd love to have Steven's, Natalie's, Yo-Yo's as well as those I do have, I will make a point of having the gospels according to Pavlos.