I’d first like to state that I love Hopkinson Smith’s playing. I think that as far as lute or theorbo players go, he’s one of the best and most expressive that you can find. Now when you add this to my love of Bach, it’s only natural that I would love this new CD, “Bach Suites no. 1, 2, 3”, that he has recently released (recent being within the past two years).
When I mentioned to one of my teachers at school that I was doing an arrangement of the Bach Cello Suite no 2 for guitar, he immediately gave me this CD and told me that if I loved that Cello Suite so much then this recording was a must listen, and he was right. I’ve always found lute or theorbo playing to be slightly colder than a guitar and that’s one of the main reasons that I never fully was interested in the lute, even if I found the repertoire written for it to be beautiful. With Smith’s playing, though, he seems to be able to bring out the warmth in the instrument that I haven’t heard before.
In the first Cello Suite, the Gigue and Menuets are lively and up-tempo, conveying the proper feelings that one would associate with these dances, and yet he’s also able to capture the feel of the Sarabande and Allemande. The second Cello Suite has the gorgeous richness in the Sarabande that makes it one of my favorites and it’s beautiful to listen too. In the third Cello Suite, the Gigue is just as fun and exciting as I remember, new life brought back too it. The ornaments he uses are beautiful and interesting, and overall it’s a very satisfying CD.
To top this all off, he is using a member of the lute family, a theorbo, that was invented by Sylvius Weiss in the 1720s. The sound is deeper and the basses boom out with a rich fullness that suits Bach very well.
If you have the chance to listen to this CD, I’d definitely take a listen to how beautiful his playing is on these wonderfully complex pieces.
the music corner 