1

2008

York, England

Jonathan Attwood

Jared Sacks

62>00

Microphones: Bruel & Kjaer 4006, Schoeps
Digital Converters: DSD Super Audio/Meitner Design AD/DA
Speakers: Audiolab, Holland
Software: Pyramix Editing, Merging Technologies
Mixing Board: Rens Heijnis, custom design
Mastering Room: B+W 803d series speakers, Classe 5200 Amplifier
Cables: Van den Hul

Wadsworth, Matthew lute

The seeds of this recording were in fact planted many years ago. As a teenage classical guitarist, I used to spend a lot of time playing other peoples transcriptions of renaissance and baroque music. Little did I know, that many of the pieces I played were actually taken from the Varietie Of Lute Lessons. When I discovered the lute (accidentally) in my first year as an under graduate at the Royal Academy of Music, I found myself returning to some of the same pieces, except this time, in their proper context. Not only did I have to develop a Braille system for notating lute tablature (with the help of Tim Crawford), but I then had to spend hours manually writing the pieces out on a clunky old Braille typewriter. I taught a number of my student friends to read tablature, and we would spend valuable and precious time each week writing out one or two new pieces. I used to spend hours in the bacement of the library, listening to recordings of one of my great idols, Julian Bream - deciding which piece to write out and learn next. Since then, it has always been a burning ambition of mine to one day recorde the Varietie of Lute Lessons, and some 15 years after my initial forees into this stunning repertoire, it felt right to finally commit the pieces to disk. Although my understanding of the music has matured over the years, I must confess to finding some of these pieces no less demanding to play. Ironically, the very first note in the book is actually printed on the wrong string, and there are a great many mistakes throughout the pages which I have taken the liberty to correct. It is quite surprising that Robert Dowland was not able to publish accurate versions of his Father's own work, and he even forgets to credit his Dad's authorship of two almains, one of them being Sir John Smith's Almain, which opens this recording. In 1610, Robert Dowland (son of the great lutenitst John Dowland) published two important collections of music in London: A Musical Banquet (songs to the lute) and A Varietie of Lute Lessons (a collection of lute solos). ...

() Wadsworth has found a way to bring out what us unique to each selection. () () Certain pieces he chooses to treat in a virtuosic fashion, with florid ornamentation and embellishments; others may demand the merest of pauses at a cadence, or a slightly emphasized trill. Much like a jeweler shaping a precious gem, he treats each piece delicately, with skill and nuance. () Early Music America
(...) De Engelse luitspeler is blind en besteed veel tijd aan het in braille transcriberen van de luittabulaturen. Het is het wachten in elk geval waard. () (....) Wederom een ijzersterke cd die de luit laat horen zoals hij zou moeten klinken. De muzikant biedt een zeer representatieve selectie van werken van Robert Dowland, hij speelt kraakhelder en weet duidelijk wat hij doet en dat komt de zorgvuldig opgenomen muziek alleen maar ten goede. Luister(..) Deze klanken onthaasten de menselijke geest, waar de moderne toonkunst ons opjaagt en ze brengen tevens de overconsumptie in de huidige muziek aan het licht. (...)
(...) Een prachtige SACD die met veel liefde en toewijding is gemaakt. Muziek die ons de broodnodige rust verschaft in deze belachelijk hectische maatschappij. De opname is van de hoogste standaard.
HVT

(…) wunderbaren Resonanzkörper der 10-chöriger Laute (...)
(...) Die Aufnahmetechnik hat ganze Arbeit geleistet, um alle Bereiche und Facetten des Lautenspiels von Matthew Wadsworth unmittelbar präsent zu machen. Und so staunt man einfach nur über die Souveränität, mit der Wadsworth die Noblesse und Tief , die Form und Vitalität dieser Kunstwerke en miniature weniger einfängt als vielmehr feinsensorisch erspürt.
Rondo

(…) Matthew Wadsworth emphasizes the sheer sonorous beauty of the 19 pieces on this disc. He exhibits a feathery touch that is coupled with an unerring sense of the music's constantly shifting but always subtle dynamics. (…)
Audiophile Audition *****

(...) his playing is solid and deliberate yet strangely luminous – no light but rather darkness visible. In his hands Holborne, Morley Batchelars dark, sophisticated pavins grand and trilling with shakes yet unable to shake off a lurking melancholy-almost take on the character of a late Beethoven
Gramophone