Vihuela and Baroque guitar CDs

[Jamie Holding]

Hello all,

I've got quite a few lute CDs and some theorbo music. However there is a gap where the baroque guitar and Vihuela instruments lie. Does anyone have any recommendations for CDs of Vihuela and Baroque guitar music? I've already got the naxos Vihuela CD of Milan and Narvaez which I'm really enjoying - but anything else I could get? I'm looking for CDs certainly under a 10 pounds per disc and hopefully cheaper! My budget is very low since I'm saving for the instruments themselves!

Thanks,

Jamie

[Juan Pablo Pira]

My baroque guitar favorite is Jacaras!: 18th Century Spanish Baroque Guitar Music of Santiago de Murcia by Paul O'Dette. Excelent playing and should be around 10 pounds.

[Valéry Sauvage]

About baroque guitar,
Rolf Lislevand's Sanz & Santa Cruz, and the Murcia Codex...

[Jamie Holding]

Two great looking CDs! Thanks for the help. Any more? (I like my music as you may have guessed!)

[David Tayler]

Make sure you avail yourself of the videos that people have been doing, here, on Vimeo and youtube. They are much better than CDs because they are not edited, and you can see how people really play the music. Not to mention free, although you could I am sure contribute to the artist of your choice. CDs will not give as realistic an impression of the music.

[Jamie Holding]

Hello David,

I have watched and listened to a lot of stuff on this forum and it is very entertaining. But although CDs may not be fully accurate - I love them. The players are often exceptional (Paul O'dette for example) and the quality is unbeatable. Also I just like having a collection and putting one on my CD player every day or so. I do agree with your points though and I have already been playing the videos on this site to death!

Juan, that CD with Paul O'dette looks fantastic and I'll buy that next weekend! Thanks for bringing it to my attention! And under 7 pounds! Thanks!


Break time is over, bye for now!

[Juan Pablo Pira]

David,

You have quite a point in here.

It's a sad thing, but recorded music has changed our perception of what music should be like. With all the editing, cutting and re-recording, every performance on a CD sounds perfect... too perfect. Every time you hear it, it sounds exactly alike... just too good to be true.

In the real world, you may hear slight tempo changes, an occasional mistake, but the whole thing sounds more "human". In real life, every performance is fresh and new... besides, it tells a lot more about the artist and their feelings.

I agree, Home-recorded videos, like the ones on the list, are much more like the real thing.

[Harry Jess]

Jamie, I would also recommend Rolf Lislevand's "Alfabeto".
Harry

[OlivierL]

Jamie,
You should listen also "Laberintos Ingeniosos", a true gem from Xavier Diaz-Latorre and Pedro Estevan.

[Mark Day]

Jamie,
I would also suggest checking out Rob MacKillop's site. You can link to it from the main page of this site (he created it). He has a lot of music free to download and it is intelligently broken down by instrument with written commentary for most everything. I should also mention that Rob is a pro who has recorded for Dorian and others, and though the recordings on his site are all, I believe, home recordings, he knows what he is doing and they sound good. You can also donate via paypal to Rob for his efforts.
Also check out Magnatune.com. They have a lot of "early" music that is downloadable, DRM -free and you pay what you want (a suggested price is listed) and they share, I forget how much, but a substantially larger percentage of $$ with the artists than typical record labels.

[Frei]

Guitarra! A Musical Journey Through Spain (DVD) by Julian Bream

This was a great video, and had a great vihuela piece. It goes through the history of the guitar through modern times, even some flaminco (which Bream is very appreciative of BTW) (as best he can in 2 hours) , and of course, its Bream. But you may want to get the pure music CD's before you get this.

[Jamie Holding]

thankyou for all the suggestions, it is very appreciated!

I personally don't like Bream's playing much, I find that the use of nail plucking can sound a little too sharp - especially on early instruments and music. It does look like a good video though.

[Extrafino]

I second the commendation of Xavier Diaz-Latorre's Gaspar Sanz CD. For vihuela my favorite is Dolores Costoyas, but her vihuela CD seems to be out of print. Jorge Fresno is also excellent (also out of print, perhaps available at a good library?). CDs by José Miguel Moreno and Hopkinson Smith are always a safe bet. Rafael Bonavita's recent vihuela CD is excellent (and he also plays theorbo) You might be able to find individual .mp3s of some of these to sample and/or purchase.