Bach’s Six Suites for Solo Cello, BWV 1007–1012, have become the touchstone for the modern cellist. When first approached, they are the Mount Everest of cello works: difficult to conquer and stay on top of. Once conquered, however, they aren’t just something on a checklist but a work to return to again and again. As a performer gains in experience and technical ability, they revisit the suites again to apply their knowledge and embrace Bach again.

Jian Wang

Chinese cellist Jian Wang has followed this ‘visit-again’ approach for his latest Deutsche Grammophon recording of the suites, following his first recording of the works 20 years ago. This album is the first from DG China, a new label that launched on 14 May 2025.

Recorded at the Opera House of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, the album has a pristine sound with an impressive spatial depth.

The Suites are made up of six movements, all based on French dances. Each opens with a Prelude and then continues on to an Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Menuet or Bourrée, and closes with a Gigue. After the fast Courante, a running dance, the Sarabande provides a point of repose, a slow consideration of the greater questions of life. For Mr. Wang, he sees them as ‘… where the soul resides. In these pieces, Bach embedded the eternal themes of human existence—compassion, transcendence, reverence for the divine’. It’s no wonder that the Sarabandes are his favourite movements.

J.S. Bach: Suite for Solo Cello No. 5 – IV. Sarabande

Mr. Wang takes us to a curiously introspective world, one where we can dance and play, but also one where we can sit back and think about the greatness of the world.

J.S. Bach: The Cello Suites, BWV 1007–1012

Jian Wang, cellist
Deutsche Grammophon China 00028948783311
Release date: 23 May 2025
Official Website

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