Greetings Konstantin, This topic has received some discussion here in the past, at least peripherally. Searching the archives might reveal some discussion of interest.
I don't think the treble mandore/mandora/mandwr/what-have-you was in very widespread use by Vivaldi's time, certainly not in Italian places. In large part, the lute works were dedicated to a Bohemian nobleman named Wrtby. This led Eric Liefeld to speculate that the works to designate "leuto" were intended for a baritone voiced mandora from D (Liefeld, E. 2002/2003. Pondering Vivaldi's Leuto. Lute Society of America Quarterly 28(1):4-8.). On O'Dette's recording of the Vivaldi works with the Parley of Instruments (1986, Hyperion CDA66160), he speculated the works to designate "mandolino" to be intended for the five or six course mandolino (i.e., [g]-b-e'-a'-d''-g'') played with a plectrum and the Bohemian "leuto" works to be for the same instrument played with the fingers. Personally, given the spread of violins and cello-driven basso continuo, I think adding mandolino as soloist to the "leuto" works sounds to crowd too many voices in the treble range. I prefer to hear the "leuto" works with the lutenist an octave lower than notated, a common short hand carried on in guitar music to this day. I think the general consensus among those who really care about baroque mandolin is that it was probably ordinarily played with the fingers until into the classical era. That is how I play the instrument. Unfortunately, most performers who come to baroque incarnations of mandolin seem to approach it after having studied the modern mandolin. Almost universally, they play it with a plectrum (usually a quill, and there are some who argue a quill was never applied to any gut-strung mandolin types: that a sliver of cherry would be more appropriate). In spite of the likelihood of period performance practice, recordings of baroque mandolins played with the fingers are relatively rare. Best, Eugene -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Konstantin Shchenikov Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2014 2:51 AM To: lute list Subject: [LUTE] Vivaldi solo lute Dear friends! I am curious abour mandore (treble lute) as solo instrument for Vivaldi concertos and trio sonatas with liuto obligato. Have anyone an experience with it? Could you point me to some research? I am especially interesting about how far it from (or how close to) baroque mandolin? Makes it sence to use baroque mandolin instead of mandore? I've read somewhere that renaissance mandore technique was quite similar to renaissance lute and fingers were in used, not plectrum. What's your suggestions about 18 century? Could I use fingers or have to play with plectrum? And the last, do you know who can built such a thing? And any other information is very appreciated! Greetings from St.Petersburg, Konstantin -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
