Hi friends, I was fortunate to hear Emma Kirkby and Anthony Rooley at a recital here in Loughborough. (The centre of the universe ;)-.
I name Emma first because I suspect that most of the audience had gone to hear her singing. Anthony's lute was there to provide accompaniment to her singing. It is on this point that our esteemed friend appeared to be over critical. The recital I attended was in a university hall, seating around 300 or more. I had to sit towards the back, which disappointed me as I had gone primarily to hear the lute. Emma's singing was indeed wonderful and Anthony's lute-playing was perfectly balanced with this. I don't remember if there was any amplification, but it projected well to where I was sitting. It was three or four years ago now. But isn't this often the case? When you listen to Lute-songs, you cannot fully hear the lute-playing. It is only best heard at the introduction of a song and between words. So 60% or more of a lute-enthusiasts interest has been masked by the words of the song, which can be sub-divided into the volume of the voice and understanding the meaning of the words. This also becomes more difficult when it is in Elizabethan English and particularly if English is not your native tongue. If the sole purpose is to hear lute-playing, then it would be best to just to go to a lute-recital or buy CD's where the lute is the only instrument. I noticed Anthony was wearing a crimson long-sleeved shirt which had unusually long cuffs and baggy sleeves. The cuffs were an interesting choice as the sleeves could have dampened the bass strings to a degree. During the interval I managed to have a closer look at the lute which had been left on a chair. I saw it was a well-made seven course with nylon strings. A few visitors were gathered round also taking an interest and asking questions amongst themselves about it. I imparted a little of my knowledge where no answers were forthcoming. This seemed to greatly satisfy them, as there was no 'question and answer time' during the performance. Of course, I would go to see their recital again and, accept the fact that the lute might not be heard all the time. My two pence Best Wishes Ron (UK) -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, September 25, 2007 2:02 AM To: LGS-Europe; [email protected]; Bruno Correia Subject: [LUTE] Re: Lute concert Dear all, We seem to be concentrating on just the softness of playing. What about Bruno's other comment that "it was also painful to hear or to understand what [Rooley] was doing"? (Bruno even went so far as to call him a "poor chap.") All the painstaking academic research in the world doesn't matter much if the performer is not able to make his musical ideas understood by the audience. I can't really comment specifically in this case since I've never heard Rooley live. Anyone else have impressions? Chris ____________________________________________________________________________ ________ Check out the hottest 2008 models today at Yahoo! Autos. http://autos.yahoo.com/new_cars.html To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
