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Cover of Bach · Six Suites

Bach · Six Suites

J.S. Bach – Six Suites for Violoncello on the Viola

Prospero Classical · PROSP0134 · 19 June 2026

Marc Sabbah, viola

Recorded in a monumental three-day session, Marc Sabbah's album of J.S. Bach's six cello suites on viola was named Instrumental Album of the Month by BBC Music Magazine (August 2026) and Classical Album of the Month by Audio Stereoplay (November 2026).

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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 – Jan Smaczny

His rendition of the Courante from BWV 1007 is elegant and rhythmically graceful, later taking on a wonderfully melancholic shade. Bach as a language of the soul: it exerts an immense pull here.

— Audio Stereoplay – Otto Paul Burkhardt

Press

1 September 2026

BBC Music Magazine Album of the month (August)

“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

7 July 2026

Marc Sabbah on Bach for the viola

Enter Marc Sabbah - his new arrangement of Bach's six cello suites for the viola shines new light on these evergreen works, with the resulting album pressing the mind's 'novelty' and 'familiarity' buttons at the same time for a fascinating experience.

— Presto Music

19 June 2026

Why I recorded Bach's Cello Suites on Viola

I like to imagine that these six suites may have been conceived with the viola in mind, especially given Bach’s affinity for the instrument.

— The STRAD

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