This is the first in Robert Barto's series of recordings of the Lute Music of Weiss on Naxos. The label has chosen a wonderful lutenist to record these unbelievable works. While Barto may not be a name you hear as much, he plays this music wonderfully with great tone, sensitive musicianship, and refined technique that is comparable to great lutenists like Hopkinson Smith and Paul O'Dette. As for the actual music, you can't go wrong with Weiss. Weiss could easily be mistaken for Bach. The compositional quality of these sonatas is absolutely wonderful. While the pieces are not technically "sonatas" (as they do not employ sonata form), they are very much in the style of baroque dance suites written by Bach. This disc is absolutely excellent. Lots of great music played on the original instrument with good performance practice. See the "Add to Cart" button? Click on it.
January 21, 2008 |  | Steven Sturgill-Ojeda Reviews Barto's Weiss |  |
This my friends is a kingly gift fit for a prince or any such audience be they heavenly or mere mortal! This is how Weiss is supposed to sound; such tender grace and exquisite phrasing and tone control. The tempos are perfect and the sound lush with tasteful reverb. I do not prefer the very dry screechy recordings some labels seem to prefer. There are many things in life that may be more "authentic" but that categorically does NOT make them better per se. I want beautiful sound that sounds like heaven might sound. Barto is the consummate Lute master of our time! While O'Dette is a more popular and a truly gifted and prolific player, I currently assert that Weiss has NEVER sounded more like Weiss than through the awe inspiringly beautiful interpretation via the utterly deft touch of Robert Bartos' hands. Please buy this disc, then buy a good 300B or SE Tube amplifier or at least a pre, some great speakers (not avaiable at your local store) and sit back and meditate or enjoy a good glass of wine or aged scotch or at least a good cup of Joe and be transported to another time and place somewhere in Transitional Bavaria at its' finest. Ok, if you can't afford the system upgrade PLEASE BUY THIS DISC!!! You won't regret it ever unless you absolutely hate fine, spiritually uplifting instrumental music. If you like great classical guitar you will be amazed at these incredible NAXOS cd recordings made using 20-bit technology that would be worth 3 times the price, SHHHHH, sorry! Don't tell Naxos. Thank you Naxos, and THANK YOU Robert Barto. Sir you are a modern day genius. A finer lute player there is not in the world today! By the way Amazon is offering these 4 for the price of 3! Order 4 at a time and SAVE. Also look carefully for his 8th disc. They DO have it but it is not listed normally. You may have to do a google or yahoo search for it, but I did buy mine through Amazon.com. It is very new and NOT to be missed!
April 4, 2007| | | one of my late night favorites. | |
naxos has provided me with so much great music over the years at budget price, i want to thank the folks over there right up front. this is one of my very favorite naxos releases. i know next to nothing about the lute. never touched one, never seen one in person. how many strings are on the things, anyway? to the listener, i don't think that it really matters having such answers resolved. just listen. this is gorgeous, quiet music. perfect for late at night. the tone of the instrument combined with the atmospherics of the canadian church that this recording was made in is haunting on the ears. i listen to this disc over and over again. great stuff for reading to in the evening. thanks again, naxos.
March 17, 2007This is the first CD of lute music I've ever purchased. I recently heard some Sonatas by Weiss on NPR. Weiss's sonatas are very relaxing. Not very dynamic. But very nice music to go to sleep to.
July 20, 2005| | | An almost free lunch with Weiss | |
Looking for baroque? Curious about some new baroque solist/string experiences at a nice price? Then stop right here.
For those unfamiliar with Weiss, he was contemporary with Bach and was *the* top lute music composer and lutenist of his time. Personally, I much prefer the lute works of Weiss over those of Bach. I think Bach, ever brilliant and elegant of course, is still too restrained, condensed and... well... dull, quite frankly.
Stay clear from overpriced records with some fancy spanish tradition guitar hotshot playing "baroque". I heard the famous and celebrated Andrès Segovia's Bach recordings the other day and had some brief thoughts on shooting myself. The guitar is not an instrument well suited for baroque music, particularly not baroque *lute* music. Get the real stuff like e.g. this record instead. And with a composer such as Weiss you get music that makes the most of the instrument and you also get the full spectrum of baroque complexity and sentimentality, not just the distilled version of Bach's (yes, I know that's blasphemy).
The featured solist on this recording, Bartos, is hardly the most famous of today's lutenists. And there are a few things I don't like with him and the recording in general. For instance, on one or two occasions I get the impression he has to slow down his tempo temporarily in the middle of a piece just to be able to keep up with a fast and tricky passage later. It's annoying. I also don't quite like the choice of locale for the recording, some church. There is a tad too much reverb in there for my taste.
But otherwise Bartos really shines. The phrasing is just lovely, very passionate. He is also very subtle in keeping all the voices alive, giving each the flow and emphasis it needs but not more. That is not an easy task with pieces as intricate as e.g. the presto in Sonata No 42. Overall, in spite of a few flaws, it's a beautiful recording. You'll cry your heart out, still your wallet won't weep. And it's music that will last a lifetime. Almost a free lunch, if you ask me. Four stars, plus an extra for the the low price.
I don't have the later volumes yet, but I'm sure they are just as good and I will most certainly buy them. January 20, 2004
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