Dear Luters, Just for the record, I thought I should clarify some remarks I've made on the list recently as they appear to have been misconstrued.
I said, light-heartedly or so I thought, that some lutenists play Baroque music with the same "oh-so-lovely" sound that they get when playing renaissance music. Some of you seem to have taken that to be a criticism of Paul O'Dette's Bach CD. I was not even thinking about O'Dette when I wrote that e-mail! If you read the message in question, you will see that I made no reference to O'Dette, or anybody else by name. I was gently poking fun, in a general sense, at the way we sometimes tend to romanticize Baroque music, IMO to the point of compromising the clarity of line and rhythm. The fact is: I happen to think O'Dette's sound is perfectly idiomatic to Baroque music. I've been waiting for years for him to record on the Baroque lute, and I think his Bach CD is wonderful. Another remark which seems to have generated some feedback is my reference to the "modern lute." I said something to the effect that the lute is at its best when we approach it "with as few concessions to modernity as possible." That's simply my opinion: please understand that I was not criticizing anybody personally, nor referring to anybody's lute specifically! Write me off if you want as an irrelevant and irreverent "old guy." That's fine with me: that's what I am. But I happen to believe that the term "modern lute" has the flavor about it of an oxymoron, and I was simply expressing that opinon. Once again: no personal attacks were intended. The same goes for my remarks about right-hand playing technique: why on earth should I feel personal animosity towards someone because of the way his right hand looks!? I don't care what people's right hands look like: just that they don't look like the right hands in the old paintings, and I find that curious. Also I find it curious that no-one else seems to find it curious. That's all: no personal attacks intended here. I'm sorry if my remarks have offended anyone. They were not intended to! David Rastall [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
