Reviews on 2024 release, J.S.Bach: 6 Suites for Cello Solo

Charlotte Gardner, Gramophone - EDITORS CHOICE oct 2024

"Another major – really major – contributing factor is the tremendous warmth and bloom, and
upper-register precision, afforded by Copenhagen’s Garnisons Kirke with its unusual combination
of huge, galleried, two-level, cathedral-size Baroque interior and a wooden floor. But there’s also
Thomsen’s playing, because the overwhelming impression is of a cellist playing as comes naturally,
with his very personal, timeless (albeit period-aware) response to the music: long-lined, melodious
expressivity; gentle vibrato and portamento touches; and delicate, constantly varying
embellishments which he won’t keep for the repeat if the mood takes him early..."

Thomas Michelsen, Politiken (6 of 6 Hearts) 

“A Child Prodigy Celebrates Turning 50 with Music He Has Worked on Since He Was 10.
The Danish cellist Henrik Dam Thomsen demonstrates a complete fusion of himself, his instrument, and Bach's notes on his new solo album.”

Valdemar Lønsted, Information.  

 “Since he was ten, cellist Henrik Dam Thomsen has approached Bach. Now, he has arrived.

 The 50-year-old cellist Henrik Dam Thomsen has spent forty years exploring Bach's cello suites, and in 2024, the time was ripe to record an album. It has become a masterpiece in sound quality and musical understanding.”

Evanthore Vestergaard, Kulturen.NU (6 of 6 stars) 

“Dam Thomsen, so to speak, takes the listener on a journey from the complex to what appears as transparent, luminous, and almost divinely logical. Oh yes, and his phrasing and expression are imbued with great beauty.

I will listen to Dam Thomsen's version again and again. And again."

Robyn Stowell, The Strad

"Thomsen’s accounts combine seemingly effortless virtuosity with fine musicianship - he overcomes with accuracy and evident ease the added difficulties of playing no.6 on a four-stringed instrument - and they are characterised by a free, relaxed rhetorical approach."

Rob Pennock, Classical Source.

"There is a sense of rightness to everything Thomsen does and crucially unlike so many other artists who have recently essayed these masterworks he has command and charisma and as such I would please these accounts with Casals, Fournier, Starker (EMI and Mercury) Tortelier (1983) et al, in the pantheon of excellence."

Thomas Baack, Klassik Heute (10/10/10)

 “In general, his interpretation is characterized by fluid tempos and a genuine sense of dance. When you find yourself tapping along to a gavotte or bourrée, you know that this cellist is not just performing character pieces but is well-informed about Baroque dances. Bravo!”

Pál Körtefa, Pizzicato (5 of 5 stars)

“Thomsen achieves a lively and narrative-rich result with this approach, which is never brittle or even unattractive. Rather, he creates a stirring flow, as one might imagine an ocean current in the narrow Øresund on his doorstep.”

Amazon.com rating: (5 of 5 stars)

 “Magisterial performance of Bach’s cello suites by a veteran musician in full command”

5 of 5 stars: “A brilliantly executed and highly creative performance of six iconic works for solo cello” (Bertil van Boer, Fanfare US)

5 of 5 stars: “Henrik Dam Thomsen marvelous renditions of the Bach Cello Suites, beautifully recorded” (Ken Meltzer, Fanfare US)

5 of 5 stars : “Enthusiastically and unreservedly recommended”. (Mark Gabrish Conlan, Fanfare US)

5 of 5 stars: “A most revealing and rewarding survey of Bach’s solo cello suites” (Jerry Dubins, Fanfare US)

OTHER REVIEWS

Debut concert at the Odd Fellow Palæ, Copenhagen

“Expectations were enormous. They were exceeded. Nobody could have dreamed of a debut concert at such a high solo, virtuoso and artistic level as that achieved by Henrik Dam Thomsen. This reviewer cannot remember anything more convincing in the last thirty-five years.”

Berlingske Tidende

Rococo variations with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra.

“Dam Thomsen’s approach was sensitive, heartfelt, and pensive rather than glitteringly charged, and it sounded exceedingly beautiful and impressive.”

Politiken

Brahms: Double concerto, Danish National Symphony Orchestra

“Despite its name the double concerto is mostly a cello concerto, as Henrik Dam Thomsen emphasized from the outset with grand, powerful cello tone and expressive calibre that carried across the orchestra, taking in the lyrical shades and the dramatic moments alike.”

Berlingske Tidende

'But despite the formidable competition [in the Kodály] Thomsens is a fine state-of-the-rendition.'

International Record Review

'Thomsen is highly talented and we shall undoubtedly be hearing more of him.'

BBC Music Magazine

Thomsen is a Rolls Royce among players.'

Classic FM Magazine

''This is a young man with a good attitude, accurate fingers, and a bow arm with control. I will follow his career with interest.''

American Record Guide

''This young Danish cellist' is clearly someone to watch. His debut recording begins in outstanding fashion. I was bowled over by the epic, decalmatory style of the opening of the Kodály Sonata and by the beautifully clear sound of the recording.''

The Strad

''Henrik Dam Thomsen is a splendid player, technically assured, showing strong rapport with both the main works.''

Gramophone

''But despite the formidable competition [in the Kodály] Thomsen's is a fine state-of-the-rendition.''

International Record Review

“This is a magnificent performance, committed from first to last, a more convincing and optimistic account of the quartet than you will hear on record from many more famous soloists.”

Norman Lebrecht

“En kammermusikalsk juvel

En de mest markante cd-udgivelser i lang tid. Seks stjerner.”

Kristeligt Dagblad

“Det er musikalsk magi, når Koppels malende Hammond og Dam Thomsens flydende cello mødes. Det er filmisk, levende og en stor lytteoplevelse.” 

Niels Overgaard, JazzNyt. 

“I for one will be ready for the next collaboration with these two superb creators.”

RECOMMENDED.

Lee Henderson

“Henrik Dam Thomsen und Anders Koppel zeigen Freude und Humor bei diesen sublimen

Miniaturen, sie sind par excellence ebenbürtig als vitale Instrumentalisten”.

Hans-Dieter Grünefeld -HIFI and Records

“Og cellisten Henrik Dam Thomsen stryger sin bue med en indædt drømmeglød, der bliver til frosne toner, når udryddelsen indtræffer. Det er uendeligt vanvittigt smukt”.

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