Track Listing

1. Sonata No. 36 In D Minor: Fantasia
2. Sonata No. 36 In D Minor: Allemande
3. Sonata No. 36 In D Minor: Courante
4. Sonata No. 36 In D Minor: Bourree
5. Sonata No. 36 In D Minor: Sarabande
6. Sonata No. 36 In D Minor: Menuet
7. Sonata No. 36 In D Minor: Giga
8. Sonata No. 49 In B Flat Major: Allemande
9. Sonata No. 49 In B Flat Major: Courante
10. Sonata No. 49 In B Flat Major: Bourree
11. Sonata No. 49 In B Flat Major: Sarabande: Grave
12. Sonata No. 49 In B Flat Major: Menuet
13. Sonata No. 49 In B Flat Major: Presto
14. Sonata No. 42 In A Minor: Allemande: Largo
15. Sonata No. 42 In A Minor: Allegro
16. Sonata No. 42 In A Minor: Bourree: Posato
17. Sonata No. 42 In A Minor: Sarabande
18. Sonata No. 42 In A Minor: Menuet
19. Sonata No. 42 In A Minor: Giga: Presto

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #64548 in Music
• Released on: 1997-08-29
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds
• Running time: 72 minutes

Customer Reviews

Outstanding interpretation of Weiss' music
The music Weiss composed ranks, in my opinion, as some of the most beautiful and intellectually stimulating there is. I have collected most of what is recorded by the best and most prolific lutenists. I unhesitatingly assert that Robert Barto's touch and phrasing in this recording is unparalleled. He breathes new life into these sonatas, making them a treat to hear. The recording and mastering is excellent. His touch makes his baroque lute come alive and sing. I look forward to more Weiss CDs by this brilliant performer.

Weiss - Bach's great and neglected contemporary
Sylvius Leopold Weiss, a contemporary of Johann Sebastian Bach, is hardly a name that will trip from people's lips. Anyone who has heard any of Weiss's work will know what a great shame that is. Weiss was the great lutenist of his day and he wrote some great music for the instrument. Most of his music for the lute takes the form of the baroque suite based on dance movements from the allamande to the sarabande. Weiss's compositions are wonderfully fresh and inventive and, unlike the Bach transcriptions that one sometimes hears (as wonderful as these can be), one can just feel how idiomatic they are to the lute. This is turning out to be a wonderful and tasteful series. Robert Barto ellicits an almost plangent sound from his lute and he plays with both energy in the faster movements and restraint in the lovely sarabandes. He captures the improvisatory spirit of the pieces very nicely too, though there is nothing exaggerated about the playing. This is beautiful and haunting music and it deserves to be better known! At Naxos prices these discs are an absolute steal.