de la Rue - Missa de Sancta Anna - Scola Descantus/Moll

Rating: 2/5

Review:
Uninspiring

I’m afraid I’m not keen on this recording. Pierre de la Rue was a magnificent composer but this doesn’t do justice to his work. The choir sound soulless and unengaged, the balance is poor with very dominant sopranos, intonation isn’t perfect and the overall effect is distant (both geographically and emotionally) and a bit soggy. De la Rue’s deep passion and sometimes slightly edgy settings are smoothed over in a monotonous, rather dull sound.

There are some superb recordings of de la Rue by Amarcord, The Brabant Ensemble, Beauty Farm, Cappella Pratensis, The Clerk’s Group and others. My advice is to try one of them and avoid this.

Zamboni - Lute Music - Genov

Rating: 4/5

Review:
Very pleasing lute music

Zamboni is a new composer to me so this was a bit of a punt, but I’m glad I tried it because it’s a very pleasing collection.

Zamboni was active in the late 17th- and early 18th-centuries, making him a generation or so before Bach and Weiss. His lute music, to my ears anyway, isn’t as inventive as either of them, but it’s certainly good stuff, full of melody and a wide variety of well-evoked moods. Yavor Genov plays it very well, with a sound technique and a touch which brings out the feeling of what he’s playing. The recording is good; there is some rather intrusive fret noise in places, but it’s not enough to spoil my enjoyment.

This is perhaps not essential lute music, but anyone with a love of the lute (like me) will find much to enjoy here and I can recommend it.