Friday 24 November 2017

Jakob Lindberg - A Lute By Sixtus Rauwolf


Rating: 5/5

Review:
Another cracker from Lindberg



A new release by Jakob Lindberg is always an exciting prospect for me, and this one fully lives up to expectations.  It's an excellent, varied programme, beautifully played.

Rauwolf's instrument itself is billed as "the star" of this disc in Tim Crawford's notes.  It is a lute which was first built in the late 16th Century, probably tinkered with later and finally modified in 1715.  It has been impeccably restored to its 1715 state an the result is something rather special; it's tone and expressiveness in Lindberg's hands is quite exceptional to my (admittedly layman's) ears and the whole disc sounds simply fantastic.

The programme is made up of music "which could plausibly have formed part of the repertory of an owner (presumably German?) of the instrument at around the time of its final conversion."  It includes works by 17th-Century composers for the lute: Reusner, Dufault, Charles Mouton, Kellner and Pachelbel, plus a suite by Weiss.  It's a great programme and a pleasure to listen to, with Lindberg's interpretations being impeccable throughout.

The recording by BIS is, as always, excellent.  Some fretboard noise and breathing is audible, but it's never intrusive and I like the sense of intimacy it gives.  The notes and presentation are good, and it's a really fine release all round.  Warmly recommended.

3 comments:

  1. Hi Sid,
    Nice review, but by my reckoning, I do believe that Weiss would have been 28 in 1715, not 18. ;)
    Cheers,
    Wilson

    ReplyDelete
  2. D'oh! You're right! I'll edit the review...

    Thanks for sparing my blushes any further!
    Sid

    ReplyDelete
  3. No worries! I really enjoy reading your reviews on Amazon, so I'm glad I found out that you have a blog as well.

    ReplyDelete