Fournier is the way to go
This is the one me;
https://www.amazon.com/Johann-Sebastian-Bach-Suites-Violoncello/dp/B00000C2B4
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My 2nd would be Starker Living pressance
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I have to get this version. Mine is the one from 1992 on RCA. Listening to that now, I like it very much. Will be interesting to compare it to the older one, once it has arrived. Thanks for the recommendation!
A slight aside, but Mark Bernat transcribed the Cello Suites for double bass. The 2-CD set is out of print now, but well worth seeking out. Excellent sound quality and it goes deep.
Rachel Podger did the opposite, doing a transcription for violin… I haven’t heard it yet. I believe, she had to use a viola for some parts, so not really a consistent violin transcription. Well, interesting experiments for sure…
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I have listened to that. She made a good fist of it but there were inevitable compromises. It was not helped by my preferring the tone of a cello to that of a violin.
Yes, I believe, I may be too used to the original cello sound for these works to really like her transcription. But I do like Podger’s recording of JSB’s Violin Sonatas & Partitas, which are probably my favorite recording of these works so far…
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I’m listening to this right now. Quite delicate, if that is the right word… Definitely very, very good! I think, I have underestimated that one before…
The recording by Heinrich Schiff has been mentioned before… Spinning it right now… IMHO his performance should be considered as one of the very best!
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Slowest version ever by the Baroque master Anner Bylsma;
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My favorite; and I have Ma, Rostropovich, & Starker (SACD) in my collection.
Tasty.
Thanks
I’m liking this one. Only available on Tidal right now, which I just canceled in favor of Qobuz. So I bought it off of iTunes.
IMO, both of his recordings (I believe, there are only two?) are required listening, if one is interested in historic performances.
But my favorite recording on histroric instruments currently is David Watkin’s. He is using a 5-string cello for Suite no.6. High on my list for desert island selection no.2 (no.1 being Casals)…
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For me it’s Fournier and Isserlis, among so much worthy competition. Much depends on your taste in Bach. In broad strokes I’d say Yo Yo Ma, Starker, Rostropovitch) are representatives of a “modern” approach focused on tone, as opposed to a more historically informed approach (ter Linden, Bylsma or Kuijken for instance) which empahsise articulation and the more dance-like character of the Suites.
To my ears Fournier (although I have issues with his close association with Vichy during WWII - for which he was convicted after the war) and Isserlis (“Old Iron Fingers” was an old conservatory chum of mine back in the day) represent a balance between a modern approach to Bach and something of an early music/original instrument feel in the phrasing and artication. Of course, any respectable recording of the Suites will be a life-affirming experience. 
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I agree and will check the Watkin recording.
Thanks !
The Watkin version is one of my favorites now. Very very well played.
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I’m glad you like it… cannot remember, how I got to it, I had known nothing about Watkin before… but it’s a splendid recording indeed.
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Well I will spread the word.