Search - John Dowland, Antony Holborne, Francesco da Milano :: The Woods So Wild

Crystalline dance magic

drollere | Sebastopol, CA United States | 01/08/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"i believe in his heart of hearts, julian bream is a renaissance lutenist. and this is one of his two finest lute recordings. (the other, "music from the royal courts of europe," has been buried in the julian bream "complete edition" -- if you have a copy to sell, write me!) woods so wild combines the vervy, virile and always dancing music of late renaissance england with the propulsive, lyrical and scintillating lute fantasias of francesco da milano, an early renaissance italian. the combination works well both for musical contrast and for an overall mood of crystalline, ethereal magic. bream's lute is crisp and light voiced, not tubby in the bass like his earlier instruments, and his ability to spin emotion from the tiniest fragment of music is heart healing. there are very few guitar or lute recordings around better than this one!"

Julian Bream - The Woods So Wild

drollere | 12/07/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is, with out a doubt, the finest collection of lute music on a sigle disc. Programmed in beautiful sequence, it is the most brilliant, elegant, etherial perfomance I have ever heard. I understand it is now only available as a part of multi-disc set, which is a shame, because I love buying the single cd for freinds -- who become closer friends after they listen to it!"