Jason Vieaux: Bach, Volume 2: Works for Violin (CD review)

by Karl Nehring

Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006 9 (Lute Suite No. 4); Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1005; Sonata No.1 in G minor, BWV 1001. Jason Vieaux, guitar. Azica Records ACD-71347

One of the first questions that springs to mind when encountering a Volume 2 of anything is, “what about Volume 1?” In the case of this new release from the American guitarist Jason Vieaux (b. 1973), you won’t have to wait long for the answer, for here is how he kicks off his liner note essay: “So, ‘Bach Volme 2'… this would indicate there was some kind of a ‘Volume 1,’ right?... some background is needed for anyone who cares to read about the genesis of this particular release. Indeed it’s been well over a decade since the 2009 issue of three lute works of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Bach Vol. 1, Works for Lute, was out on Azica. The idea Azica and I had back then was that there would eventually be a Volume 2, which would complete the ‘lute’ set by making a ‘violin’ record that included BWV 1006, which is both the 3^rd Violin Partita and the 4^th Lute Suite. Well, ‘eventually’ turned out to be about 13 years, 2 kids, 700 more gigs, and over 8 hours of commercial releases later.”

Although I did wonder a bit myself about Volume 1, having never encountered it, I was already familiar with Vieaux’s playing, having first discovered him on a CD he had released well before Bach Volume 1, his marvelous collection of music by jazz guitarist Pat Metheny, titled Images of Metheny (Azica ACD 71233). That recording from 2005 includes 13 Metheny compositions that Vieaux interprets on classical guitar, including five songs Vieaux arranged into the form of a baroque suite. It’s a real gem of a recording that should appeal to appeal to jazz and classical guitar fans alike, well worth tracking down. Years later, Metheny returned the compliment, dedicating a composition for solo classical guitar titled Four Paths of Light to Vieaux and inviting Vieaux to record it for inclusion on Metheny’s 2021 album Road to the Sun (reviewed here), an album that marked Metheny’s first foray into classical composition.

Jason Vieaux

But back to 2022 (if only briefly – I am writing this review on December 30!) and Volume 2, which, to put it briefly, is an unalloyed delight. It opens with the aforementioned BWV 1006, which served as both a violin partita and a lute suite. (As an aside, when I streamed the album in my car, it showed up on my touchscreen as “Lute Suite,” which brought back a memory from my grad school days, when while working a part-time job as a security guard at a firm that made support equipment for the computer industry, I became acquainted with a charming woman named Clara O’Dette who was in fact the mother of the internationally renowned lutenist Paul O’Dette – but I digress, and no, I never did get to meet Paul, alas.) The music has that infectious energy that Bach can so effortlessly conjure, and Vieaux’s playing communicates the spirit of it in spades. The Sonata No. 3 that follows opens with an Adagio that ushers in a shift in mood that calms the spirit. Vieaux is as effective in these slower passages as he is in the faster passages at maintaining a sense of movement and keeping the music moving with his nimble fingers. Likewise throughout Sonata No. 1, which is in a minor key and which has perhaps a slightly more wistful cast to it, Vieaux draws us deeply into the music. Bach was a true master of communicating so much depth of feeling through such seemingly simple means, while Vieaux is a true master of his chosen instrument of expression, the classical guitar. His playing is clean, straightforward, but powerful.

Unusually enough, I actually heard this recording through both my previous and current pair of loudspeakers. Most of my listening was done in my own system (for a more complete description, please see my brief biographical sketch below) to the CD through my new pair of Legacy Audio Focus SE loudspeakers, which I purchased in October, 2022. However, I was recently able to listen to a high-resolution streamed version of the album in the system of a friend to whom I had sold my previous pair of Focus SEs. The sound was great in both locations, but slightly more, uh, focused in my listening room, a function not so much of the newer speakers themselves but rather of speaker and seating placement. Not to worry, this is a well-engineered release that should delight lovers of Bach’s music, of whom I am more than confident that there plenty of you out there. Enjoy!