Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Suite pour violoncelle n° 1 en sol, BWV 1007
Suite pour violoncelle n° 2 en ré mineur, BWV 1008
Suite pour violoncelle n° 3 en do, BWV 1009
Suite pour violoncelle n° 4 en si bémol, BWV 1010
Suite pour violoncelle n° 5 en do mineur, BWV 1011
Suite pour violoncelle n° 6 en ré, BWV 1012

Istvan Vardai, violoncelle

Si le propre des grands disques est de changer notre façon d’écouter, en voilà probablement un. Les premières mesures de BWV1007 laissent incertain : tant de lenteur, de modération, après tant et tant de versions dansantes voire trépidantes… pourquoi ? Mais très vite la musique s’anime, les ornements se déploient, et surgit le souvenir de Jean-François Labie : «Le violoncelle […] pose les repères […] pour laisser l’auditeur reconstituer mentalement l’architecture [et] prolonger les fils de la rêverie ». C’est bien là qu’Istvan Vardai nous emmène, d’images furtives comme des remous sur l’eau (tous les préludes, la Gigue de BWV1009) en abîmes spéculatifs (la sarabande de BWV1011, l’allemande de BWV1012). La 6ème suite, qui semble lui donner ça et là plus de mal, débute par une étonnante mise en espace et s’achève en fête de village (la vielle à roue de la Gavotte II). La prise de son est partie intégrante de cette réussite : au casque on croirait tenir soi-même le violoncelle de Montagnana dont on ne perd pas une résonance. Poétique, subtil, introspectif, Vardai parvient à nous captiver malgré la considérable concurrence, et le mécène anonyme qui vient de mettre à sa disposition un Stradivarius autrefois propriété de Jacqueline Du Pré puis Lynn Harrell ne s’y est pas trompé ! (Olivier Eterradossi)

In May 2014 the Hungarian cellist István Várdai performed three Bach Suites at an unusual venue in New York: not the storied glamour of Carnegie Hall or the hip 92st St Y, but the Board of Officers Room in the recently renovated Armory on Park Avenue, a room no less redolent of distinguished history: to which he made his own distinguished contribution according to the New York Times, with a recital which concluded with a ‘superb’ performance of the Sixth Suite. Having just turned 30, Várdai has accumulated a string of impressive competition successes including first prize at the Geneva International competition and the prestigious ARD cello competition in Munich, as well as special prize at the Kronberg Academy’s annual competition. Now, therefore, is as good a time as any to put down his thoughts on every cellist’s Old Testament with his superb 1720 Montagnana instrument, which he also uses for the Sixth Suite, originally conceived by Bach for a five-stringed instrument such as the viola da spalla or violoncello piccolo. ‘Mr. Várdai’s trills,’ continued the New York Times review, ‘unfolded with elegant grace in his soulful rendition of the Allemande, and the Courante flowed with a joyous energy. Throughout the evening, he imbued the suites with an essential pulse and rhythmic vigour that respected the dance origins of the movements.’ Just last November he returned to the city, and the more conventionally prestigious venue of the Weill Recital Hall (part of the Carnegie Hall complex) for a recital of mostly Romantic repertoire with his fellow Hungarian, the pianist Zoltán Fejérvári. This time the reviews were no less enthusiastic: ‘István Várdai clearly can do many things so well,’ reported the critic of Seen and Heard, ‘and has a sensitivity, command and tonal lustre that are thoroughly distinctive. In some ways, he can seem to be a very tight, agile cellist yet he moves so compellingly into expressive and tonal breadth as well… It was all pretty special.’