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Marc SabbahViola

BBC Music Magazine Album of the month (August)

BBC Music Magazine

Jan Smaczny

“Sabbah's tone is beautifully focused with vibrato used sparingly as an effective means of pointing phrasing. These carefully crafted performances continually draw the listener's attention and offer a handsome supplement to the cello originals.”

— BBC Music Magazine

A summary of Jan Smaczny's review in BBC Music Magazine, which named the album Instrumental Choice for August 2026 with five stars. Read the full review on classical-music.com

The reviewer places Bach's solo string works at the heart of the modern repertoire and asks what viola players can make of the cello suites – noting that Bach and his contemporaries were entirely at ease with creative adaptation.

  • He finds that Marc Sabbah "makes a magnificent case for the viola", matching the scale of his tone to the tempo.
  • The Prélude to the First Suite may be on the fast side, but its growth towards the improvisatory later stages is "thoroughly convincing".
  • The slower dances, such as the Allemande of the C minor Suite and the Sarabandes, have grace and finesse, with detail always at the service of the melodic line.
  • The faster movements combine elegance and enthusiasm – the Bourrées have "an infectious bounce" and the Gigues "a real sense of fun".
  • His verdict: a beautifully focused tone, sparing vibrato used to point the phrasing, and carefully crafted performances that offer "a handsome supplement to the cello originals".
BBC Music Magazine article