This is rather off on a tangent, but the fact that some space in this
strand was given to the Brahms recordings of L'Archibudelli set me off
on an associative train of thought:

Now I found out that their recording of the sextets (to buy which I have
now been tempted by Mimi Ezust's enthusiastic reccomendation, although I
am sceptical about her rejection of the virtues of portamento) includes the
cellist Jan Bilsma (sp.) Now he, as far as I know, also recorded the Bach
cello suites to considerable acclaim.  However, a friend of ours, who is
very much into baroque music and HIP recordings, particularly recommended
the suites as recorded by what appears to be another Dutchman, Raoul
Dieltens (sp.).  She spoke enthusiastically about his not being interested
in the 'Romantic legato line', his raw sound and angular phrasing.  Lazy
conservative that I am, I am only really acquainted with Casals' recording,
so that naturally rather put me off.  Is Dieltens really all that jagged
and scratchy, and if so, is that really a virtue, or just bad playing? How
do Bilsma and Dieltens compare, and is there another HIP recording that is
even better? How dogmatic are these HIP Bach players regarding repeats - I
am allergic to carbon copies? Is my Casals (who is undoubtedly individual
and *does* play repeats identically) really that misleading for all the
eloquence of his playing?

I would be very grateful for some pointers on this.

Felix Delbruck
[log in to unmask]