Recordings for lute and related instruments

[Alek Hidell]

New release by Toyohiko Satoh here. All new composers for me, I think. The booklet essay by Satoh is inspiring, for me at least, for example [...]

Thanks for that, Mandryka - interesting read.

Here's the cover, for anyone who (like me) might be interested -



- though I must say, I'm not fond of it (the cover, I mean). Carpe Diem's covers often have a pleasingly spare look to them, but I'm not sold on this one. Of course, that doesn't matter if the music's good.

[Mandryka]

Toru Sakurada is an angel, this is a recording of an angel playing a vihuela.

Sometimes you find a performance which totally disarms all criticism. That is the case for Toru Sakurada's Narváez. He has the knack of getting to the very cantabile heaven of the music, and his extraordinary skill at making the vihuela sing is what is so disarming. This siren song, seductive siren song, is just soooooooooo beautiful that all the knee jerk critical responses (over-simplify, well behaved . . . ) are just words, words, words in the face of this angelic purity.

Listening to this again for the first time since April, I feel exactly the same, so I guess that's not a bad sign.

[pjme]

A 2004 cd that I cherish. Elegant, refined music making.

[milk]

General question about lutenists if anyone knows: so, masters like Hopkinson Smith make recordings on lute, vihuela, Baroque guitar and modern guitar, etc. The fretboards on these are completely different and notes and chord formations require different fingering. Right? Doesn't that make this a harder field of music? I mean even if you're switching from clavichord to piano to harpsichord, at least the notes/keys are arranged in basically the same way. Seems like a special obstacle? I've always wondered about this.

[Kontrapunctus]

General question about lutenists if anyone knows: so, masters like Hopkinson Smith make recordings on lute, vihuela, Baroque guitar and modern guitar, etc. The fretboards on these are completely different and notes and chord formations require different fingering. Right? Doesn't that make this a harder field of music? I mean even if you're switching from clavichord to piano to harpsichord, at least the notes/keys are arranged in basically the same way. Seems like a special obstacle? I've always wondered about this.

Yes, and the right hand plucking techniques are also different, especially between the older instruments and a modern guitar.

[Mandryka]

Just been listening to this. It is a disk of music from English lute MSS that the lutenist reckons are in fact more unattributed Dowland.

I don't agree, the pieces don't sound very Dowland to me, except for a few little features here and there. I'd say they are probably 'School of Dowland'. But they are very pleasant none the less and, let's face it, you can never have too much lute music.

Whose heart would not melt on hearing the fantasias, which to me are redolent of Italian style, of Francesco da Milano? The booklet essay is an interesting glimpse into the work of an archivist. Beautifully recorded and played with feeling, tenderness and reticence.  For what it's worth, this recording had me strapped to my seat.

As far as attribution is concerned, Mike Fentross comments

The pieces, recorded here, form merely the tip of a fascinating iceberg. When André Nieuwlaat initially shared his discoveries with me two years ago, I realised immediately their importance. But at the time, I was actually unable to foresee the enormity of the project. I have been riveted observing how André has been able, by thinking 'outside the box', to make one revelation after another. All too often, it is easy to follow and accept the conclusions of people that have paved the way in research, rather than dare to pursue innovative horizons.


Every composer has his own musical signature. Trusting the experience that I have gained throughout my thirty-year career as a professional lute player, and as Professor of Lute at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague for the last 15 years, I started to make a selection from all the pieces in the pertinent manuscripts. I let myself be guided by musical intuition, by the essence and beauty of the pieces, and by constantly asking myself the question: do I recognise Dowland's hand in this? The overall quality of the pieces to choose from was very impressive, and the answer to my question was: yes, I recognise Dowland in these works, without a shadow of a doubt.


In my opinion, André's research has opened up a musical treasure-trove that can be a source of immense joy for both lutenists and their audiences. I feel blessed that I have had the privilege of being the first lute player to record a minuscule part of this wealth of repertoire.

[milk]

Yes, and the right hand plucking techniques are also different, especially between the older instruments and a modern guitar.

This amazes me. It seems like a tall order.

[milk]

I can recommend this relatively new one. He really shines in the therbo stuff, in my opinion. He's more "pretty" than Satoh I think, while Satoh is a great contrast - being more serious and austere sounding, perhaps. On the guitar, Díaz-Latorre seems more baroque, atmospheric, sweet (would we say lyrical here?). It's good to have these two very different takes on De Visee. 

[milk]

Intricate early baroque. Maybe for a cloudy afternoon.

[Mandryka]

Intricate early baroque. Maybe for a cloudy afternoon.

It's well worth reading Lex Eisenhardt's essay on Bartolotti on post 245. There are some comments there about lyricism and the Versailles style which may bear on Rousset's new recording of Louis Couperin. Seeing Louis Couperin as a sort of Lully for keyboard avant la lettre seems daft to me.

I've dipped into this new Bartolotti CD, I'm not sure what I think,

[milk]

It's well worth reading Lex Eisenhardt's essay on Bartolotti on post 245. There are some comments there about lyricism and the Versailles style which may bear on Rousset's new recording of Louis Couperin. Seeing Louis Couperin as a sort of Lully for keyboard avant la lettre seems daft to me.

I've dipped into this new Bartolotti CD, I'm not sure what I think,

There's the one by Krishnasol Jimenéz Moreno too but he maybe has more in common with Bock than Eisenhardt. Bock and Eisenhardt sound very rough to me, but not in a bad way. The music sounds archaic and frail. Eisenhardt seems to have much more control and style.

[milk]

Two very different takes on both Mr. Campion and the baroque guitar. Michel Amoric has a very dry intimate sound design. Hofstötter a reverberating stage. Seems like we get more drama and counterpoint with Hofstötter.

[milk]

Lex Eisenhardt's notes on Angelo Michele Bartolotti, with some evident comments on the difference between French and Italian music, and the dumbing down effect of Louis XIV style.

Thanks for posting this. It's very informative and I've gone back to Eisenhardt's recording which is indeed very good, superior. It's not as rustic as the other two recordings that I've heard and I think there's better control and contrasts in the music. There's something subtle in Eisenhardt that I don't hear in KJ Moreno. This has made me listen to Bartolotti more closely. I think Bock and Moreno may be lost in their virtuosity or something but I also wonder if this is a kind of problem with guitarists. Reading this, I can hear how this music might connect to a Couperin and maybe how Louis Couperin is influenced by Style brisé on plucked instruments? 

[milk]

invigorating!

[milk]

These Cherici recordings are really great stuff! Real diamonds!

[Que]

Paolo Cherici is a great lutenist! 

Another favourite:

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And the recordings in which he accompanies Claudine Ansermet (on Glossa & Tactus).

Q

[Mandryka]

Paolo Cherici is a great lutenist! 

Another favourite:

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And the recordings in which he accompanies Claudine Ansermet (on Glossa & Tactus).

Q

This Cherici CD is very good.

This has just been released, I'm listening to it for the first time now

[Mandryka]

It's just two different approaches,  I like Smith's poise and melodiousness, I like Eisenhardt's depth.

There are two lute dominated recordings by Rooley that I know, The Cozens Lute Book and a selection of Renaissance Duets with James Tyler. There are three or four CDs dedicated to Dowland in the complete Dowland he recorded, can someone say who's playing? Is it really Rooley?

Are there any more? I like Rooley's style very much.

In fact there's a third Rooley lute CD apart from what's in the Dowland box, this, which I got in the post yesterday



First impressions - introspective, soft and gentle.

[Mandryka]

Absolutely mesmerizing music. I think this is the first English music I've immediatly loved.

Revisiting this recording this morning, I continue to have a lot of trouble with it, or at least the Holborne part. To me, Wilson seems to play up the naive, folksy and four square aspect of the music and play down the emotional, melancholic mysterious aspect. Top choice for Holborne for me rests Marincola, though I haven't heard Heringman yet.

[Mandryka]

though I haven't heard Heringman yet.

Just heard it



And jolly nice it is too. Expressive, fluid and lyrical, without collapsing into some naive folksy song-book type style. The USP is that in addition to a lute he sometimes uses a cittern and a bandora, which are very characterful. The cittern seems to me to lack delicacy, the bandora is rather nice and quiet. There's even a couple of songs with cittern and some sort of bowed bass instrument together. I'd appreciate suggestions for other recordings of bandora. Anyway, it's not a bad thing to leave the beaten path and to listen to unexpected ways with familiar tunes.

Holborne is one of these cusp composers - renaissance simple balanced  lyricism, or baroque emotional convoluted expressiveness? That makes him interesting.