REFERENCE RECORDINGS® proudly presents the premiere cellist William Skeen in a revival of J.S. Bach’s Cello Suites, performed on rare historic instruments. Beautifully recorded by famed multi-GRAMMY®-winning engineer Leslie Ann Jones at Skywalker Sound in Marin County, California.
Baroque Brilliance: William Skeen Revives Bach’s Cello Suites On Rare Historic Instruments
The six suites for solo cello are frequently considered to be Bach’s greatest masterpieces and are a pinnacle of the Baroque cello repertory. This new album of Bach’s complete Cello Suites has the unique feature of being performed using two different historic cellos, one of them being a rare five-string instrument from the 17th century which is used on Suite 6.
William Skeen is one of the world’s premiere Baroque cellists. He serves as Principal Cellist with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Voices of Music, and was Principal Cellist of the American Bach Soloists for nearly two decades. He is a founding member of the New Esterházy Quartet, the Cantata Collective, and La Monica. Mr. Skeen taught baroque cello and viola da gamba at the University of Southern California for two decades. Mr. Skeen has received two GRAMMY® nominations for previous albums. He continues to perform regularly with major orchestras and Baroque groups around the world.
San Francisco-based album producer Lolly Lewis founded her recording production company Transparent Recordings in 1980. Notable projects include Anthony Davis’s opera Tania, a premiere recording of orchestral music by Harlem Renaissance composer Florence Price with the Women’s Philharmonic Orchestra, and a Berlioz series with San Diego Symphony. In recent years, Ms. Lewis has been particularly focused on period instrument performance and has produced six albums with the New Esterházy Quartet. This new release of the Six Cello Suites was beautifully recorded by famed multi-GRAMMY®-winning engineer Leslie Ann Jones at Skywalker Sound in Marin County, California. It was mastered by RR’s own multi-GRAMMY®-nominated engineer, Sean Royce Martin.
REFERENCE RECORDINGS, founded in 1976, has a large catalog that includes numerous American and international orchestras, ensembles, solo artists and choruses with multiple GRAMMY® awards and nominations. FRESH! is part of Reference Recordings’ mission to encourage unique and fine artists, and give them a strong platform for promotion and sales nationally and internationally. Reference Recordings are distributed in North America by Naxos USA, and internationally through a network of independent distributors