Recordings
New release (October 2006) :
' Masters of the Lute', Channel Classics CCSSA 24206
Matthew Wadsworth, lute and theorbo.
'This is Matthew Wadsworth's finest release to date,... a gem of an album, which exudes intelligence, sensitivity and sheer class ... A richly painted recital that really shouldn't be missed.'
Gramophone Editors Choice, December 2006
'a well balanced album of lute treasures … graceful, civilized and intelligent …'
Rick Jones, The Times, 2006
'Wadsworth is an accomplished player, thoroughly at ease with the idioms of this challenging repertoire and technically a master indeed of his instrument.'
Kate Bolton, BBC Music Magazine, 2007
'Wadsworth is surely one of the finest of the recently-emerged generation of players ... played with great flair and expressiveness … this is an excellent recording by a first class player, and one that I expect to play over and over again.'
Peter Cains, Lute Society, April 2007
Available in all good record shops and widely across the Internet.
Other recordings:
'When Laura Smiles', Avie AV 2074
Matthew Wadsworth - lute, James Gilchrist - tenor
Click here for audio sample
'Matthew Wadsworth's exceptional lute technique allows Rosseter's music to shine, while James Gilchrist’s lovely light tenor voice is perfect for this repertoire. He sings with beautiful expression, augmented by subtle and appropriate ornamentation and the interaction between lutenist and singer is exemplary. This is lovely music beautifully performed, and provides a valuable insight into music at the Court of James I.'
D. James Ross, Early Music Forum of Scotland News
'This CD presents twelve of Rosseter’s most beguiling songs, including What then is love but mourning, If she forsake me, Sweet come again and When Laura smiles. It also features most of Rosseter’s surviving lute solos, including an epic chromatic fantasia, two weighty pavans and several charming dances. This is the first recording devoted entirely to Philip Rosseter’s music and is a timely tribute to one of the great masters of the lute and English song.
'It's hard to believe that this is the first album devoted exclusively to the music of Philip Rosseter, lutenist to the court of James I and one-time manager of the Children of the Queen's Revels. Rosseter's discographic neglect is all the more surprising given the sheer quality of his lute solos and songs, performed here with great subtlety and expressive nuance by Matthew Wadsworth and James Gilchrist. Wadsworth's intensely focused playing flows direct from the heart. Recommended.'
Andrew Stewart, Classic FM Magazine, November 2005
Click here to read a review in the Times (December 2005)
Available in all good record shops and widely across the Internet, including direct from:
Deux Elles DXL 1044
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MATTHEW WADSWORTH - lute
Robert Johnson was the last of the great English lutenists and stands alongside Dowland in the quality of his musical output.
This CD contains several of Johnson's most well-known songs, such as Where the bee sucks and Care charming sleep and many previously unrecorded masterpieces for the lute.
'A beautifully crafted programme and restrained, crystalline performances... Carolyn Sampson's voice is flexible and sensuous, her legato line never spoiled by, although still subordinated to, the poetry's metrical exigencies, resulting in a gentle declamatory style. And the expressive rhetoric of Johnson's solo music is thoroughly explored by Wadsworth - the pavans and almains which punctuate the recital are transformed by stylish, insightful playing into beautiful meditations. Here are lost loves, madness and death. A beautiful pall over your evening's listening.' William Yeoman, Gramophone, January 2005
'The first of the C-Minor Pavans... draws the listener ever more closely into its heart. Much credit for this must, of course, go to Matthew Wadsworth, whose playing throughout is notable for clean finger work and a general technical prowess always placed at the service of the music.'
'Carolyn Sampson brings to the songs a lovely unaffected sound…There is plenty of expressive variety but always within the scale of the accompanying lute, and her quiet singing is exquisite. She captures the desolation of 'woods, rocks and mountains', the intensity of 'care-charming sleep' while Wadsworth's improvised harmonising of Johnson's bare bass line reflects every nuance of the text.'
Jonathan Woolf, Recording of the Month, Music Web International
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LISTEN TO TRACKS:
Click here to listen to all 23 tracks on Magnatune!
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Deux Elles DXL 1044
Music by Kapsberger and Piccinini
MATTHEW WADSWORTH – theorbo
'A ringing endorsement of the beauty of the theorbo in a distinguished recital… Wadsworth has an imperious command of some impressive solo material,…he glories in the fleeting mysteries of these works, allowing the notes to speak with unequivocal conviction' Gramophone Editor's choice, May 2003
Beauty of harmony, balance and faithfulness to structure were the basic foundations of Renaissance composition and performance of music. Around the beginning of the 17th century, however, composers began to tire of these constraints, even of the undeniable perfection of the polyphonic style, and yearned for their opposite. They deliberately upset the perfect balance and developed a taste for personal expression.
This CD, DXL 1044 is produced by:
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Click buttons to hear extracts
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