Cinemusical, Jan 2020

Recording:   ****/**** Performance: ****/**** ...Cotik is able to create delicate nuanced and full sounds for the slower movements and a tighter, brisker response for the faster passage work. Cotik’s virtuosity shines with an almost breathless unfolding of the musical materials that traverse the range of the instrument.  Tone and pitch are also spot on in these often breathless renditions.  It makes those calmer, restrained moments even more stark by comparison....  There is beautiful subtlety in the sound and phrasing...Shaping some of these lines is another important facet in communicating the music’s power and Cotik manages this quite well with excellent rhythmic emphasis coupled with a fine sense of overall line...Cotik brings out these pointed dance rhythms very well here.  The contrasts between these fast and slow dance extremes is brought out equally well...the performance have an air of authenticity to them that also help ease the listener into this fascinating sound world where one instrument can seem to still manage to infer harmonies, cross rhythms, and intriguing counterpoint...The sound helps provide an equally warm ambience that aids Cotik’s performance without blurring it with echoes or delays.  Instead, it provides us a perfect seat with this music front and center.  One can hear for themselves how the use of the Baroque bow changes the articulations and strength of tone that Cotik coaxes from his instrument... the bottom line is that Bach’s music really does shine here with both its moments of beauty and fascinating, virtuoso demands and displays... It is really a feast for Bach lovers interested in hearing Cotik’s approach and sound ideas for the performance of this music...the performances here are worthy of repeated exploration and enjoyment. READ MORE