Spinning Today (Classical version)

[dougmon]

My favorite composer for the lute...



This recording might be a little old, an it's definitely not hi-fi, but it has such a good feeling to it. This was also my intro to Francesco, so I'll always think of it fondly.

[dougmon]

Having a great day...

[jandl100]

Inspired by Doug's choice of lute music, currently playing this ...



Lovely!

Have you tried the Weiss lute series on Naxos, Doug? -- it's also excellent.

[jandl100]

I'm having a review of my LP collection at the moment with a view to kicking out the less than stellar condition ones and the ones I just don't want to play. Quite a few are getting cleaned as I go. Hopefully this will result in a slimline collection that I can confidently dip into without having any worries or hassle.

Currently playing - and staying! - is a marvellously clean copy of this ...



And now this, ahhh perfection ...

[dougmon]

Inspired by Doug's choice of lute music, currently playing this ...



Lovely!

Have you tried the Weiss lute series on Naxos, Doug? -- it's also excellent.

I have tried it -- I have four or five CDs of Barto playing Weiss; it is, as you say, excellent. I haven't heard too much of the Volta; how is the recording?

[jandl100]

I have tried it -- I have four or five CDs of Barto playing Weiss; it is, as you say, excellent. I haven't heard too much of the Volta; how is the recording?

Volta's sound quality is A1 Excellent (as is Barto, imo) - you can seemingly hear every detail, in a slightly reverberant space.
The instrument itself sounds rather more fragile than those typically used by Barto in his recordings; Barto's lutes always sound solid and forthright, Volta's sounds a bit frayed in comparison! Interestingly frayed, though.

[dougmon]

Volta's sound quality is A1 Excellent (as is Barto, imo) - you can seemingly hear every detail, in a slightly reverberant space.
The instrument itself sounds rather more fragile than those typically used by Barto in his recordings; Barto's lutes always sound solid and forthright, Volta's sounds a bit frayed in comparison! Interestingly frayed, though.

I would guess the difference in sound is Barto's enormous Baroque lute as opposed to Volta's smaller Renaissance lute. I could be wrong, of course...a lot of it could just be the ambience of the recording space, right hand technique, etc.

To get back on the thread, though, here's what I'm listening to:



North's recordings of Dowland are my favorites; even more than the Hopkinson Smith recordings.

[jandl100]

-- exquisite!



-- LP -- a bit of a curiosity. Quite a small scale performance of this mighty work - sounds more like a chamber ensemble - less impact but you can really hear what is going on in the orchestration, more than I ever realised!

[Gordon Steadman]

-- exquisite!



-- LP -- a bit of a curiosity. Quite a small scale performance of this mighty work - sounds more like a chamber ensemble - less impact but you can really hear what is going on in the orchestration, more than I ever realised!

I think this is why I tend to like small scale works. Somehow, with a huge orchestra, the sound becomes overwhelming and the details lost. Perhaps this is where the greatest conductors can shine.

Small scale works best on my favourite genre anyway. Things like The Water Music with only one instrument per part, really show you what is going on.

I have found the same with both live and recorded work so it's not just a hi-fi thing.

[jandl100]

Yes, it's fascinating to hear Ansermet's 9th, so much going on in the different musical parts that (not being a score reader) I hadn't realised before!
But I wouldn't want to be without large scale performances that raise the roof and sweep the listener away!
Based on recent listening, if I had to restrain myself to two 9ths they would probably be Ansermet and Abbado.