Remember I writing about Casals and the cello suites? This is it. This is the first recording of the suites ever made. The recording, not the record. This particular item is from 1957, but the actual recording is made in 1938 and 1936 respectively. In Paris, soon to be invaded by the Germans during the Second World War. That is how old this is.
That also means these recordings were originally released as fragile 78 shellac discs. In mono, with a lot of hiss. If you can hear through that, or it doesn’t bother you, by all means, listen to this. For me, this is an interesting curiosity, but not more than that.
As far as the performance itself goes, I do admit Casals makes some interesting choices. Many times the Bach suites hover somewhere strict and loose. They might sound like dances, or like a more classical piece, or maybe like something in between.
Bach himself didn’t add many instructions for the player, even leaving out instructions for slurs or connected notes. This gives the performer enormous choices as far as bowing or timing. I recommend trying different versions of the cello suites to find out what I mean. For an easy comparison, just try the first part of the first suite. It is well known, carries an easy melody, but already has a lot of choices in it. And then try Pablo Casals again. I’m curious what you will think of it.