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52 of 54 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
To buy or not to buy, that is the question, 23 April 2007
When I was younger, I went on a wine-appreciation course. The first thing I was told was: "Don't let snobs dictate your taste to you: if you like chilled red wine with fish, *drink* chilled red wine with fish!"
Over the years, I have found this to be good advice, and not just about wine.
70 years ago, Andrés Segovia played the Bach Chaconne for the first time in Paris. He said "I could measure my success by the rage of the violinists." But the guitarists didn't care. Nowadays Bach on the guitar is commonplace.
50 years ago, lutenists criticised Julian Bream for playing their instrument like a guitar. He said "It's my job to blow the dust off these things."
It always miffs insiders when an outsider comes along and brings their speciality to a new audience, even though they may publicly applaud him for doing so: it will be a lucky outsider who doesn't get stick for not doing things the "correct" way.
So the Amazon (and other) reviewers of "Songs from the Labyrinth" fall (for the most part) into two camps: Early Music buffs, and Sting fans. As I joined the Lute Society in 1973, and reviewed Early Music for several years, I suppose I must be considered to fall more into the former category than the latter.
But, it seems to me that all the discussion of "authenticity", impassioned and learnèd though it may be, is irrelevant. The only important questions are: Has the performer made a serious attempt to understand what's going on in the music? and Does he bring something fresh to it?
In Sting's case, the answer is clearly Yes to both. And that said, the only other thing of importance is whether you like the result.
I do like it, and I'm glad to see I'm not alone, even among us old fogeys. And with music samples and now video samples available on-line, you don't have to play guessing games to know whether you will too.
THE DVD
Over and above the value of the music, the DVD is very well put together. There are songs, lute music, anecdotes and historical discussions, all skilfully and entertainly intercut, and each complete in itself but not so long that the attention of the newcomer will start to wander. You can see Edin trying not to laugh when Tony Rooley and David Pinto almost get into an argument. And the whole thing is visually gorgeous. My favourite bit is where Sting fissions into four and sings a quartet with himself, sitting around a table.
By the way, there are a couple of "in" jokes that may go over the heads of those new to this music:
Sting ribs Edin about giving him the hard part in the anonymous lute duet "Le Rossignol"; in fact, the two parts are virtually identical, one being an echo of the other, merely four bars "out of phase".
More subtle is the somewhat unexpected appearance of "Hellhound on my Trail", which is of course by the noted blues singer Robert Johnson murdered in 1938 (but somehow copyright 1990, it says here). Another Robert Johnson, also a lutenist (and son of that John Johnson whose vacated position Dowland failed to secure at the court of Elizabeth I), was one of Dowland's colleagues at the court of James I. He was the composer of "Have You Seen the Bright Lily Grow", so the DVD contains works by two different Robert Johnsons.
Lutenists will be interested to note that Edin Karamazov plays (right hand) thumb under, although Dowland himself switched in mid-life from thumb-under to thumb-over -- presumably for what seemed to him to be good reasons. He is clearly a fine player with a great deal of facility, but I feel obliged to say that his Dowland Fantasy (P. 6, for those that are interested) seems to me a bit of a mess. Don't take my word for it; you already know Anthony Rooley, and his version is on Renaissance Fantasias. It's also on disc 8 of his mammoth 12-disc set, with his wife (the famous singer Emma Kirkby) and The Consort of Musicke: Dowland -- The Collected Works. Here are some more versions for comparison:
Christopher Wilson: Rosa
Julian Bream: Lute Music from the Royal Courts of Europe
Jakob Lindberg: Dowland -- Complete Solo Lute Music
WHERE TO GO FROM HERE
The person who spearheaded the revival of interest in Dowland, and the lute in general, was Julian Bream. No one ever breathed more life into this music, and if you're new to the lute, you can't go wrong with his recordings, many of which are still available.
On the other hand, if Sting is your thing, Bream's Dowland songs with Sir Peter Pears are unlikely to be. Nevertheless, you can hear them on Heavenly Love, Earthly Joy.
Of Bream's successors, one of his personal favourites certainly seems to be Nigel North: you can read his glowing tribute on Nigel's website. Only four volumes of Dowland's music by Nigel have so far appeared, though.
The complete lute music is available from Jakob Lindberg (mentioned above) and from Paul O'Dette (Complete Lute Works -- also as individual discs), two of my personal favourite players. If you liked "Le Rossignol", you will certainly enjoy them together on English Lute Duets.
The acknowledged authority on Dowland in her day was the late Diana Poulton. She is the author of the standard biography John Dowland, and also editor of Collected Lute Music.
THE LUTE
Lute sales have quadrupled, says the Lute Society. If you're thinking "well, I can play the guitar: how hard can the lute be?", think again. By all means take it up, but it's a *very* different instrument!
The British and American Lute Societies can both be found on line.
And now my 1,000 words are up. Good hunting!
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not as good as it should have been., 8 Sep 2007
I bought this CD keen to love it - Sting and John Dowland a potentially excellent combination. However, there is a serious production issue which impacts on the CD to its detriment - namely the singer's breathing. I am not a sound expert but I would imagine that in order to produce his sound he was too close to the mic. or that the microphone settings were wrong - either way EVERY song suffers as he gasps for breath. It is a most distracting and unattractive sound that interrupts an otherwise fine performance. Dowland songs cry out for a natural voice and in this regard Sting's voice is perfect. However, I like to relax when listening to music from this period and it is hard to relax with all that gasping going on - it's a shame because if it weren't for that this would be a five star CD.
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8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not to Buy, in my opinion, 5 Nov 2007
I hope Mr Magnussen will excuse me pointing out that the Sting/Dowland case is not really equivalent to Bach's "Chaconne" played by Segovia, on the guitar, compared to, say, Artur Grumiaux, on the violin, both of whom were highly-trained, exceptionally-talented players of their own instruments. The comparison is, rather, between an untrained singer belting out songs by one of England's most distinguished and cultivated song-writers, as opposed to the considered interpretations of such highly-trained, talented and experienced singers as, say, Peter Pears, Emma Kirkby,Alfred Deller and Phillip Langridge.
Does Mr Magnussen really think that the dedication of such musicians counts for nothing? That the middle-aged Sting - approaching, surely, his sell-by date as a pop/rock singer - is now able to make an artistically-significant contribution to the Dowland discography? Granted, he has got a pleasant voice and does not actually obscure the beauty of the songs but it would take a considerably-less intelligent and sensitive singer than Sting to do that!
What does he contribute that, in Mr magnussen's word, is "fresh"? Ganted, he coarsely mouths the words of the songs in the quasi-US accent that now seems to be second nature to pop-singers, which has possibly never been done before by Dowland singers but it is not only unnecessary but sounds completely phoney, particularly given the standard southern English pronunciation of the extracts Sting reads from one of Dowland's letters. Otherwise, all he does is to sing the songs, too loudly, into a microphone, because he lacks the training and technique to project them and which has the effect of requiring the lutenist to do likewise, thus audibly giving the accompaniment a prominence it does not require.
Indeed, why did Sting take the trouble to recruit the accompaniment of a professional lutenist? If he thought that he could adequately sing the songs, why not arrange for one of his band to play the acommpanimant on electric lute, or something? Doubtless, he knew that no-one in the band would be capable of it -yet he was confident that he, Sting, with the the "untutored tenor voice," was a good-enough vocalist! A touch of wanting to get the best of both worlds, perhaps?
Alright - the CD is OK and might make some of Sting's pop fans aware of the existence of something worthwhile beyond the limits of their own banal, everyday musical world. But, arguably, Sting's considerable wealth and celebrity would have been better employed - if he really does admire Dowland's work - in advancing the career of a singer of an age, training and ability to make him/her more likely to do justice to it.
Incidentally, Mr M., I might add that, although Bach's Chaconne is now commonly performed, very effectively, on the guitar (and Edin Karamazov has, in fact, recorded it on the lute - CD Alpha 056), this is only because this piece could not sound bad on the paper-and-comb, if you could manage it! Given the guitar's limited capacity for "sustain",it still sounds at its transcendental best on the instrument for which it was written (and of which, I believe, the composer was a not-unskilled executant).
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