Search - Giovanni Antonio Terzi, Giovanni Pacolini, Anonymous :: Three, Four and Twenty Lutes

Lutes Galore!

Richard D'Ippolito | Pittsburgh, PA | 07/29/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There are several pieces on this recording that display the fun and virtuosity associated with this music. The Piccinini Canzone starts with beautiful counterpoint and ends finally in a rousing conclusion with a duet of fast passages.The Waelrant tune is given two excellent performances with clear voices, vocal quartet accompanied by lutes with original Dutch text and then Italian text, an all-lute version separating the two.Those familiar with the battle tune "La Battaglia" made famous to recorder players in the Susato dance print will enjoy the lute version by Pacolini.The Tim Crawford arrangement of the Johnson masque music is a stunning tapestry of lush sound of twenty stringed instruments, including 11 lutes, mandora, guitar, bandora, and four theorboes. The tunes evoke an entrance of graceful dancers.As always, virtuoso Paul O'Dette makes the tunes with his improvisitory top lines. It's impossible not to be impressed. May I suggest his other albums: Lord Herbert of Cherbury's Lute Book HMU 907068 and Music of Kapsberger "Il Tedesco della Tiorba" HMU 907020, where O'Dette demonstrates convincingly why he is the world's greatest lutenest.It all makes me wish for a journey back in time!"

Breathtaking beauty

Richard D'Ippolito | 04/06/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I would rate this with 6 stars if I could. This is one of those pivotal recordings that shifted something deep inside me. The performance is outstanding and the tambre of the theorbo (sp?) will make your bones shake. This is what people are after when they turn the base up loud in their cars - only you don't have to bust an ear drum to get the same effect. If you are new to the lute this is a fantastic introduction to renaisance lute music and if you are an old hand, you will be so satisfied."