Reddit reviews Bach: Cello Suites

Mstislav Rostropovich is the man you need. He was an absolute master of the cello and could do impossible things with the instrument. Here are a few of my favorite of his CDs:

• Schubert: Arpeggione Sonata and Frank: Cello Sonata - Amazon link and Youtube link (side note: the accompanist is the famous composer Benjamin Britten)
  
• Brahms: Cellos Sonatas - Amazon link and Youtube link
  
• Haydn: Cello Concertos - Amazon link and Youtube Link
  
• Bach: Cello Suites - Amazon link and Youtube link
  
• Anything where he does Shostakovich. Here's one Amazon link and a Youtube link, though he made plenty more.
  
  Mischa Maisky is another very skilled cellist whose recordings tend to be rather consistent. Most of what he recorded with Martha Argerich is wonderful. This is one of his strongest CDs; here's an excerpt.
  
  Pablo Casals is also fantastic, though I'm less familiar with his discography. His version of Bach's cello suites is fantastic, though: Amazon link
  
  I'd also recommend looking into Yo Yo Ma, Jaqueline DuPre, Janos Starker, and Pierre Fournier's discographies, though I can't think of any particular albums off the top of my head to recommend.
  

JS Bach wrote 6 solo suites for cello for cello. Suite is just a fancy word for a group of peices, often in the style of popular dances of the day, that are considered a gropu of music. Consider a suite something like an anthology of short stories- enjoyable individually, but when viewed as a whole, epic themes and ideas emerge.

The prelude to the g major suite is probably the most famous bit from the suites, but don't over look the rest of the G major suite, or the other suites. They are as strong as each other.

I adore the bach cello suites, I feel that all the ideas of western music are distilled into these 6 suites.

When listening to a recording of the Bach cello suites which performance you choose is going to have massive impact on what you hear and what you take away from the suites.

For a more traditional interpretation of the suites, you can not go past Pablo Casals while for a more modern interpretation have a listen to rostropovich

These two sound like they are playing different music completely, even though they are reading the same black dots on the page.

Happy listening.

If you want the good stuff, you're going to have to pay for it.