For classical guitarists, Bach’s Cello Suites, like his Lute Suites and Solo Violin Sonatas and Partitas, are a gift that keeps on giving. Indeed, there are so many guitar arrangements now that it’s hard to believe guitarists didn’t jump on them much earlier than Francisco Tárrega in c1902 – especially since Bach himself provided the perfect model with his lute arrangement of the Fifth Cello Suite.

Where does Jeffrey McFadden sit on a speculative cello-lute continuum of Bach-playing guitarists? You could say Slava Grigoryan is at one end, Tilman Hoppstock at the other. I love Grigoryan’s lean approach (ABC Classics). Playing a baritone guitar means he can stay in the original keys; but he also leaves the notes pretty much as they are, neither adding nor subtracting anything save in his interpretations, which are guitaristic, cello-istic(!) and very personal. I love, too, Hoppstock’s stylish approach (Christophorus, 8/18). Following Baroque practice, he takes advantage of every opportunity to add bass lines and counterpoints, to flesh out implied harmonies and embellish extensively. His are, for many, benchmark recordings.

McFadden inhabits the middle ground. There are added bass notes, but he’s happy to leave things as Bach wrote them whenever possible. His ornamentation is restrained and crisply executed. He favours brisk tempos overall, even in the allemandes, which to my ears could have benefited from taking the foot off the gas pedal – as he does quite rightly with the beautifully expressive and comparatively lavishly ornamented sarabandes. And the playing is simply phenomenal. Bring on Vol 2.