AAM leader Bojan Čičić has received a stunning five-star review from The Times for his new solo album Bach: Sonatas & Partitas for solo violin, BWV1001-1006.
Reviewer Geoff Brown describes how Bojan has come ‘blazing in’ with the Bach solo works, which he says are ‘magnificently played on an Italian instrument almost 20 years older than the music itself’:
Avoiding some violinists’ febrile interpretations, Cicic likes to keeps his dignity, though that doesn’t stop his presto movements from being dizzying ... I can’t recall another recent recording where the lingering resonance of the music’s final notes has been so magical. The end result is an album that splendidly showcases Bach’s special pleasure: music that engages both heart and head, and leaves us humbled, disarmed and uplifted.
Hearing guitarist Sean Shibe’s Bach recital, Bojan was inspired during the first lockdown to begin recording Bach’s iconic Partitas and Sonatas. Amid the gloom of the pandemic and restrictions on performances, Cicic travelled north – when allowed – to explore the intense rigours of Bach’s fugues and shining virtuosity of the Partitas’ fast movements. Dedicated to his late violin professor and with a booklet essay written by Mahan Esfahani, for Bojan Cicic the making of this recording in the snowbound Scottish countryside has been his greatest career highlight – a journey for him from darkness into light.
Bach: Sonatas & Partitas for solo violin, BWV1001-1006 is available to pre-order.
Photo: Nick Rutter
