BACH: Suite in C moll BWV 997; Praludium, Fuge and Allegro in Eb Major BWV998: ZAMBONI: Sonata No9
Ronny Wiesauer : Archlute
Available on Digital Download
Austrian born Wiesauer has had his fingers in many musical pies over the years including classical guitar, jazz, and numerous others, and here he plays the Archlute with all its wonderful bass notes, and its multitude of strings that is certainly not an easy option to play, but such a wonderful instrument when played well, and when the music is worth playing, as it is here.
The Suite in Cm, BWV 997, is in five extensive movements lasting for more than 21 minutes and is Bach at his instrumental best, beginning with the Prelude that shows the instrument’s wide span of notes to its utmost degree. It is then followed by the huge Fuga which is a very difficult, but rewarding seven minutes of some of the most wonderful music ever to be written for the lute. So far the piece is more like a Sonata in that you might expect the next and final movement to be an Allegro. However the piece then moves into a Suite by having a Sarabande, a Giga and a final Double, in other words a mixture of the two forms, which I have always found a little strange! However, the music of the final three movements is very involving, and does sound absolutely fitting as a close to the Suite.
Goivanni Zamboni is rarely heard nowadays but was a well – respected lutenist, and guitarist, as well as being a player of the mandola, the mandolin, the theorbo and the harpsichord. He wrote numerous works, and here is his Sonata No9, one of apparently 11 that he wrote, set in five movements, Prelude, Allemande, Giga , Sarabande and finally a Gavotte. The first thing that you notice is how different the music is from Bach’s style, for there is no chance that you could mistake this music for that of Bach. It is lighter in feel, but still very pleasant, and a real find musically speaking, and superbly played by Wiesauer.
The session ends with Bach and his Praludium , Fuga and Allegro , a well – respected piece of writing that we often hear on the guitar., but here is presented on the archlute with all those extra resonant basses, and a lovely sound it makes too. Bach of course is never an easy option, but Wiesauer makes light work of what is essentially a very tricky piece to perform, and he certainly takes the final Allegro at a considerable speed.
So essentially if you like the sound of the Archlute there is nothing here that would make you regret purchasing this, for the Bach pieces are superb and the Zamboni is almost certainly something that will be new to you!
Chris Dumigan
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