Recordings for lute and related instruments

[milk]

Checking this out today. It's very natural sounding. Well, pretty amazing really that this can sound so effortless. Almost like Weiss sonatas but more complex maybe.

[Vinbrulé]

Checking this out today. It's very natural sounding. Well, pretty amazing really that this can sound so effortless. Almost like Weiss sonatas but more complex maybe.

I own the two CDs that Beier has dedicated to Esaias Reusner :  I don't like them. Boring, very slow, frayed.
But I thought the problem was in the music itself, due to some wooden quality of the writing, until ...... until I came across Sigrun Richter and her revelatory Reusner recording.
No, the problem was not in the music, Beier is the problem !!!   Alas, this prevents me to spend money for try another performance of his.
But, anyway, thanks for the tip

[milk]

I own the two CDs that Beier has dedicated to Esaias Reusner :  I don't like them. Boring, very slow, frayed.
But I thought the problem was in the music itself, due to some wooden quality of the writing, until ...... until I came across Sigrun Richter and her revelatory Reusner recording.
No, the problem was not in the music, Beier is the problem !!!   Alas, this prevents me to spend money for try another performance of his.
But, anyway, thanks for the tip

It's kind of hard for me to tell because I know this music so well. I mean, it's cool that it comes off as lute music. I wonder if the transcriptions are his? I guess so. But I'm not sure what I think except the repertoire works well on lute - better than I'd imagined.

[Mandryka]

I own the two CDs that Beier has dedicated to Esaias Reusner :  I don't like them. Boring, very slow, frayed.
But I thought the problem was in the music itself, due to some wooden quality of the writing, until ...... until I came across Sigrun Richter and her revelatory Reusner recording.
No, the problem was not in the music, Beier is the problem !!!   Alas, this prevents me to spend money for try another performance of his.
But, anyway, thanks for the tip

I reckon Beier in the first CD makes Reusner sound like Froberger -- nervous edginess - frayed as you say -- and the slow tempos are singable, he plays Reusner like cantabile Froberger. I quite enjoyed it in fact! But then I like Vartolo in Froberger and Frescobaldi . . .

I like Richter in Reusner too, by the way. And Satoh.

[milk]

Lively and joyous music. You can't go wrong with Hopkinson Smith.

[Mandryka]

Listening again to this, the first volume of Beier's Reusner, I'm completely knocked out by the hypersensitivity of it. We have a Reusner à fleur de peau, a music of rapidly changing emotions. As I said before, it's only Froberger, and late Froberger to boot, who resembles Beier's vision of Reusner, and contrary to Vinbrulé, I think it's wonderful, visionary! The lute is outstanding too, sweet and rich.



Does it lose out in the counterpoint when it's played like this? Well, I don't think so, but maybe Beier does. Because if anything the second volume seems to me to be more balanced between emotion and abstract form. We have here Reusner à la style brisé.  The lute is perfectly suited for this frenchified vision, or maybe it's the same lute as before with a slightly different, more muscular,  sound-take.

Anyway, both these recordings are, IMO, masterpieces, desert island discs, and essential to know. For me the first volume above all.

I own the two CDs that Beier has dedicated to Esaias Reusner :  I don't like them. Boring, very slow, frayed.

This reminds me so much of the disagreement between me and more sensible people about Vartolo's Frescobaldi. De gustibus et coloribus non est disputandem. Anyway, I'd say the same in both cases, whether at the end of the day you like them or not, whether your response resembles mine or Vinbrulé's for the Reusner or que's for the Frescobaldi, both Vartolo's Frescobaldi and Beier's Reusner are essential to know if you're interested in how this music has been received, so singular is the vision.

[milk]

My wife listens to this nonstop and I know why: It's one of the most astoundingly beautiful recordings I've ever heard. It's so sweet, so sensitive, moving and lovely. There are not enough good things to say about it.

[milk]

Listening again to this, the first volume of Beier's Reusner, I'm completely knocked out by the hypersensitivity of it. We have a Reusner à fleur de peau, a music of rapidly changing emotions. As I said before, it's only Froberger, and late Froberger to boot, who resembles Beier's vision of Reusner, and contrary to Vinbrulé, I think it's wonderful, visionary! The lute is outstanding too, sweet and rich.



Does it lose out in the counterpoint when it's played like this? Well, I don't think so, but maybe Beier does. Because if anything the second volume seems to me to be more balanced between emotion and abstract form. We have here Reusner à la style brisé.  The lute is perfectly suited for this frenchified vision, or maybe it's the same lute as before with a slightly different, more muscular,  sound-take.

Anyway, both these recordings are, IMO, masterpieces, desert island discs, and essential to know. For me the first volume above all.

This reminds me so much of the disagreement between me and more sensible people about Vartolo's Frescobaldi. De gustibus et coloribus non est disputandem. Anyway, I'd say the same in both cases, whether at the end of the day you like them or not, whether your response resembles mine or Vinbrulé's for the Reusner or que's for the Frescobaldi, both Vartolo's Frescobaldi and Beier's Reusner are essential to know if you're interested in how this music has been received, so singular is the vision.

I'm going to acquire this. I have to say that his Bach French Suites is also worth a listen. The transcription is very good: it sounds utterly natural on the lute. It makes me wonder why two hands are ever even necessary to press notes.

[milk]

Listening to this at the moment.

[San Antone]

Listening to this at the moment.

I did that a couple of weeks ago.  It struck me a little dry after a while. YMMV

[milk]

I did that a couple of weeks ago.  It struck me a little dry after a while. YMMV

It's kind of a challenge in that way. So far, I find it hypnotically flat and, yeah, maybe dry. I'm still intrigued by it. It reminds me of Frescobaldi in a way.

[SonicMan46]

Milk & San Antone - I had that CD - Vincenzo Galilei (c. 1520-1591) was the father of Galileo - the concept was like the 'Well-Tempered Lutenist' a century or more before JS Bach WTC, as I recall - did not really enjoy (despite being a BIG fan of these earlier string instruments) - entered my local donation pile and has disappeared from my collection.  Dave

[milk]

Milk & San Antone - I had that CD - Vincenzo Galilei (c. 1520-1591) was the father of Galileo - the concept was like the 'Well-Tempered Lutenist' a century or more before JS Bach WTC, as I recall - did not really enjoy (despite being a BIG fan of these earlier string instruments) - entered my local donation pile and has disappeared from my collection.  Dave

I think there is another recording of this out there? In this one, there is almost no rhthymic variation. I haven't decided yet but I'm intrigued by how staid it is. I'm curious what Mandryka thinks.

[Que]

Listening to this at the moment.

Hadn't got to that one yet, but it seems not generally loved.....

I can recommend this recording with music by Michelagnolo Galilei, the brother of Galileo.

[asin]B00HSOXLHU[/asin]

Surperb disc... Anthony Bailes has a rather soft spoken style that combines elegance with plenty of expression.

Q

[milk]

Hadn't got to that on yet, but it seems not generally loved.

I can recommend this recording with music by Michelagnolo Galilei, the brother of Galileo.

[asin]B00HSOXLHU[/asin]

Surperb disc... Anthony Bailes has a rather soft spoken style that combines elegance with plenty of expression.

Q

Hmm...I don't know Bailes. I'll acquire something by him if not this. Yeah...the Zak recording is an odd duck. 

[Que]

Hmm...I don't know Bailes. I'll acquire something by him if not this. Yeah...the Zak recording is an odd duck.

Definitely a lutenist worth trying.
And the high recording quality on Ramée is a nice bonus.
I also have this recording by him, that I've enjoyed very much:

[asin]B000Y35260[/asin]
Q

[JCBuckley]

I can recommend this recording with music by Michelagnolo Galilei, the brother of Galileo.

[asin]B00HSOXLHU[/asin]

Surperb disc... Anthony Bailes has a rather soft spoken style that combines elegance with plenty of expression.

Q

Thanks for the recommendation, Que. I have Bailes's Gaultier disc, and his Gallot & Mouton CD. I confess I wasn't immediately attuned to his style - he's very soft-spoken, as you say. But the more I listen to him, the more I like what he does.

[milk]

I'm surprised by how unique Kapsberger's music is, compared to other lute music I've been listening to. It stands out. I'm not sure how to describe it. It really must be the beginning of baroque although he's quite early. I hear some (influences on) Bach in places too. This is going to be a favorite. Very inventive.

[San Antone]

Thanks for the recommendation, Que ...  the more I listen to him, the more I like what he does.

+1

Thankfully he has five CDs available to stream on Amazon Music. 

[Mandryka]

I'm surprised by how unique Kapsberger's music is, compared to other lute music I've been listening to. It stands out. I'm not sure how to describe it. It really must be the beginning of baroque although he's quite early. I hear some (influences on) Bach in places too. This is going to be a favorite. Very inventive.

I recently revisited Sandro Volta's Kapsberger, I think the music is really wonderful, at least as conceived on that recording.