Topic: Recordings for lute and related instruments

[Que]

To sidestep some postings on the listening thread: here is the one and only thread on music for the lute.
Oh yes, mind that this includes the theorbo, which is a certain type of lute, and the vihuela, a predecessor of the guitar.

Recommendations of repertoire, lutenists, (on line) recources, and of course lute recordings are welcome!

My contribution will be modest, I'm just a beginner in lute recordings.

For Bach, Lutz Kirchof:

This bargain 4CD-set by Nigel North, with transcriptions of the cello suites and sonatas & partitas for violin is mighty impressive as well.

Q

[val]

I have Bach's works for lute played by Junghänel (2 CD, HARMONIA MUNDI).

To me, Weiss is not inferior to Bach, regarding their lute music. They were contemporary, since Weiss lived between 1686 and 1750. My favorite piece of Weiss is Le Tombeau sur la mort do Conte de Logy, a very austere but also very impressive work. It reminds me of the Tombeaux composed by Froberger to the harpsichord.

[Brian]

I am very busily and happily collecting the Weiss sonatas series on Naxos, featuring the extraordinary performer Robert Barto (I think his custom instrument has 13 strings). Frequently I listen to a sonata right before sleep to help clear my mind out from the stress of the day. 

When Naxos finishes recording Dowland's lute music, I may purchase the set if it is released in box form.

So glad you started this thread.    I love the lute, much more than the guitar in fact; unlike the latter instrument, I could listen to lute music just about all day.

[SonicMan46]

Blow, John - Awake My Lyre w/ Redbyrd & Parley of Instruments - theobro part of the group!
Dowland, John - Lute Works w/ Paul O'Dette - box set of 5 discs which I don't own, but have 3 of the CDs!
Kapsberger, Giovanni Lute Pieces w/ the wonderful Paul O'Dette yet again - 
O'Dette, Paul - Robin Hood... - Elizabethan ballads et al (plenty of O'Dette options)!
Vivaldi, Antonio - Lute & Mandolin Music w/ O'Dette & Parley of Instruments.
Wilson, Christopher - Vihuela Music of Spanish Renaissance - just to add another early string instrument!

Vihuela Information, if interested; actually, I thought that my collection had MORE lute discs; of course, there is a lot of lute playing in many of the Renaissance and adjoining periods CDs - looking forward to more recommendations! 

 

 

 

[The new erato]

This is a stunning recording (about the best sound I've ever heard) of some melodious, finely wrought music:



I have it in its previous incarnation on now defunct fnac music.

[Guido]

I will be watching this thread with great interest. Actually this is real coincidence - I just finished watching this youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuoBpNz6fD8&feature=related

Julian Bream playing to Stravinsky. It's quite sweet how starstruck he is, and he plays as fantastically as ever.

[Josquin des Prez]

To me, Weiss is not inferior to Bach, regarding their lute music.

I think he's far superior, except for the BWV 997 suite, which is greater then anything i heard from Weiss (when Bach put his mind into something he has no peers). Either way, he's my favored composer for the instrument.

As for the aforementioned suite by Bach, i like the recording by Hopkinson Smith. Very clear counterpoint and the sound quality is excellent (always a plus when it comes to "quiet" instruments like the lute).

[Josquin des Prez]

I am very busily and happily collecting the Weiss sonatas series on Naxos, featuring the extraordinary performer Robert Barto (I think his custom instrument has 13 strings).

Is that going to be a complete set? I already have all the suites from the London source by Michel Cardin but i've always wanted to put my hands on the Dresden Manuscript.

[FideLeo]

This is a stunning recording (about the best sound I've ever heard) of some melodious, finely wrought music:



I have it in its previous incarnation on now defunct fnac music.

The mention of Robert de Visse (the Sun King's lute teacher and house lutenist) is very welcomed since there were probably more lute player-composers in 17th and 18th century France than in Germany at the same time.  This recording has wonderfully resonant sound and relaxed playing, and is currently available with the same player's Bach transcriptions BWV1007-09 in a Virgin Verita 2x set.  Hopkinson Smith's recordings of other French composers (the Gaultier's, Dufaut, de Gallot, de Rippe, Mouton, etc.) are great.

I think music for the 6-course vihuela should also be categorised with lute pieces since the methods of both instruments are said to be quite similar even though the Spanish vihuela looks very much like a Renaissance guitar.



The photograph above shows Jose Miguel Moreno, one of the best musicians around, playing a vihuela.  His lute recordings (on own brand Glossa) (de Visse, Weiss etc.) are also wonderful.

[Shrunk]

Thanks for starting this thread!  I'm all over the lute.   I'm considering taking classical guitar lessons (Been playing the instrument for years, but have only sporadically taken classical lessons), but since I'm mostly interested in learning lute pieces, I'm wondering if it might be best just to go directly for the real thing and study the lute instead, though I might be a bit too old to take up something new..

A couple other O'Dette suggestions:

Daniel Bachelar:  The Bachelar's Delight

Bachelar was a contemporary of Dowland's.  While his music is in a similar vein, it is less melancholic and more obviously virtuosic.



Alla Venetiana (16th Century Venetian lute music)

And his Bach series is off to an excellent start, thought the North set mentioned above is also exceptional.

[71 dB]

I am very busily and happily collecting the Weiss sonatas series on Naxos, featuring the extraordinary performer Robert Barto

I collected the first 5 volumes. Great music performed very well but maybe a bit redundant. I think the first volume could have been enough (there's so much other classical music to be purchased...)

[FideLeo]

I collected the first 5 volumes. Great music performed very well but maybe a bit redundant. I think the first volume could have been enough (there's so much other classical music to be purchased...)

Redundant?  Never Weiss, the "Bach of Lute"!

[Shrunk]

I will be watching this thread with great interest. Actually this is real coincidence - I just finished watching this youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuoBpNz6fD8&feature=related

Julian Bream playing to Stravinsky. It's quite sweet how starstruck he is, and he plays as fantastically as ever.

I read an interview with Bream recently where he talked about what an uncomfortable experience this was for him.  It seemed obvious to him that Stravinsky was very busy and resented the intrusion, but the film crew encouraged Bream to persist.  The early part of the video seems to confirm this, but at the same time Stravinsky appears to genuinely appreciate the performance.  The narration is a bit bizarre, though, isn't it?

[Guido]

Yes, he sort of regresses into embarrassed school boy mode at the beginning, but it soon all relaxes and as you say Stravinsky seems genuinly appreciative

[val]

MOUTON: Works from the First and Second Book   / Hopkinson Smith

Mouton, who died in 1699, is a very touching composer. Melancholic, with beautiful motifs, almost romantic.

Another suggestion:

NARVAEZ:  Works for voice and for the vilhuela  / Marta Almajano, Juan Carlos Rivera

The vilhuela is not the lute, but this CD is the best to discover this instrument. The songs, in special "Paseavase el rey moro", have an extreme beauty.
Another great composer for the vilhuela was MUDARRA. There is a good CD played by the inevitable Hopkinson Smith.

[Florestan]

Slightly off-topic or maybe not. In the interesting historical fiction book Imprimatur by Monaldi & Sorti Robert De Visee is mentioned as having composed a sarabande which had the curious property of curing the pest when played to an infected person. Do you know anything about it? 

[Bunny]

Here's one of my favorite lute recordings:

[SonicMan46]

Well, stimulated by this thread & the arrival of a couple of CD orders recently, I've added the following to my lute collection; so far, just listening to the first 2 discs of the 4-CD set w/ Nigel North (agree w/ Que's assessment in the OP):

Bach, JS - Solo Violin & Cello Transcriptions w/ Nigel North.

Weiss, Sylvius - Sonatas Lute, Vol. 1 w/ Robert Barto - Weiss's dates (1686-1750) just off 1 yr from Bach!

Lute Music of Renaissance w/ Joachim Held - various composers/anon. - excellent BMG bargain! 

   

[bassio]

I think he's far superior, except for the BWV 997 suite, which is greater then anything i heard from Weiss (when Bach put his mind into something he has no peers). Either way, he's my favored composer for the instrument.

As for the aforementioned suite by Bach, i like the recording by Hopkinson Smith. Very clear counterpoint and the sound quality is excellent (always a plus when it comes to "quiet" instruments like the lute).

I'll have to look at Weiss then.

Anyway for the Bach, I have Sollscher (not that known in America .. more in Europe I believe, anyone have his set what do you think?) and John Williams. What do you guys think of both these sets?

[Que]

OK people, I decided to get myself Dowland's lute works.

The choice seems to be between Paul O'dette on Harmonia Mundi and Nigel North on Naxos (though his series is not yet complete). Price will be roughly the same.
Any opinions or experiences to share on those?

   

Q