This recording, made in December 2010, features over an hour of music by French composers such as Robert de Visée, Lully, Nicolas Hotman, and Jean-Baptiste Barrière. The instrumentarium of theorbo, cello, gamba, and organ provide a rich, sonorous recording of great, but likely unfamiliar music.
The ensemble comes together for the works by Barrière, of which three are on offer. While the instruments required can vary, the use of lower-pitched instruments here makes for a welcome concert. The sound supports the ensemble well, with just the right amount of reverb for my taste. The last one is for cello with continuo (book 2, no. 6) and both the composition and its performance are a delight.
The other pieces feature Esteban La Rotta on theorbo, as one might expect seeing the name Robert de Visée. He also offers us pieces like Que devant vous tout s’abaisse et tout tremble by Lully and arranged by de Visée.
Two other pieces, my favorite among the pieces performed here on lute, include Hotman’s Passacaille and Chaconne des Arlequins, based on another Lully piece. La Rotta’s playing is good, with close miking, emphasizing the middle-lower register of his instrument; there were times I clamored for a bit of sweetness in his tone that never quite flowered.
The bowed strings take on Jean Daniel Braun’s Chaconne in consort with La Rotta. Their style, not so tightly wound as a knot, I think works in the piece’s favor.
My own taste for albums is to program complete collections; i.e. all of Barrière’s cello sonatas, or all de Visée suites. Yet I’ve caught myself more than once complaining about the need to sample from an album. The truth is, collections of music were often not meant to be performed as a complete set. And here, I think, the combination of mixing bowed strings with those that are plucked tends to offer us the fruits of variety and, too, different artistic styles. For a concert the setup works well, and here, too, I think, we benefit from this program pulling together both solo works and those bringing together an aligned band of musicians.
This album is new to me, but has been out for some time. I nice discovery!