“The Latvian cellist Mischa Maisky recorded the Bach’s cello suites “at a small guest house he converted into a studio and called Sarabande, he had a fence built around it with all the notes of the fifth sarabande crafted on the metalwork. He gleefully points out that the studio’s address is 720, his Montagnana cello was built in 1720, the year he came to the West was 1972 – and the year in which Bach has traditionally been thought to have composed the music is 1720.”
Siblin, Eric (2009) The Cello Suites. Crows Nest: Allen and Unwin, p. 90.
Maiky’s recording of Bach’s cello suites
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