Search - Silvius Leopold Weiss :: Weiss: Lute Sonatas, Vol. 8

As good as you are likely to hear on the lute

S. M. Struhl | Wilmette, IL United States | 12/07/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Barto is a really fine player, and the repertoire is much deeper and varied than somebody unfamiliar with Weiss might suspect. He was rightfully regarded as a real master in his time, and apparently in an improvising competition with none other than J.S. Bach (people did more interesting things before American idol)came in tied. This was lute vs. keyboard, no less, too. Even though Bach's contemporaries didn't recognize his greatness as a composer, he was known as a real virtuoso, so Weiss must have been quite an amazing player even to compete using a rather balky stringed instrument. I am saddened to find that some people, for reasons of their own, don't care much for the lute. However, if you just don't mind the instrument, you should listen to Barto in this repertoire. A budget label like Naxos is quite lucky to have a player of his caliber record for them. Maybe more people don't like the lute than I think. There are surprises and moments of real inspiration on each of these disks. This, like the others in the series, is really worth getting and listening to carefully."

Barto's mastery of the Weiss repertoire

G. Fealy | Canberra, Australia | 11/06/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Another fine volume in Barto's series on Weiss's lute Sonatas. As with preceding volumes, the works on this CD are played with great interpretative insight and virtuosity. Sonatas 36 and 19 are especially memorable. Hopefully Barto and Naxos will continue this series until all of the great lutenist's works have been recorded."