Hi, after a while, I am back to the lute list. There is a reason for this posting. Yesterday, finally, I got my Barto Weiss vol.10 CD. This includes the Tombeau sur la mort de M. Conte de Logy, which is an all-time favourite of mine.
Robert Barto is one of my favourite baroque lute players. I really like his sound, his interpretation and so-to-say quite everything. There is a reason why I have got each and every CD he has issued. But I was frankly disappointed by his rendering of the tombeau. Too much in metrum, no agogics, seemingly emotionless. He does some variation in the reprise of the first part, nice, but he soon leaves this path and plays the written part. My reference interpretation, a beloved compagnion for more than thirty years is Hoppy's 1978 rendition on the 1755 Widhalm lute, Reflexe edition, not the later recording on his van Lennep lute. I find this particular piece overflowing with emotion, ardently played, very moving. It just hits and touches me. The music is so deep and calm and nevertheless arousing. What a masterpiece. And an example of what can be done on the lute. Upon further reflection, I find that Robert does in fact express himself, but only on a smaller scale. More civilised, perhaps. Which I find a pity. Why is it that the emotional range of many lute recordings is so small? Or compressed? It can be done otherwise. Or is it just a matter of my ears being clogged? g To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
