Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Partita for lute in E major, BWV 1006a (BC L171): Prelude
2. Partita for lute in E major, BWV 1006a (BC L171): Loure
3. Partita for lute in E major, BWV 1006a (BC L171): Gavotte en rondeau
4. Partita for lute in E major, BWV 1006a (BC L171): Menuet I / Menuet II
5. Partita for lute in E major, BWV 1006a (BC L171): Bourree
6. Partita for lute in E major, BWV 1006a (BC L171): Gigue
7. Partita for lute in C minor, BWV 997 (BC L170): Preludio
8. Partita for lute in C minor, BWV 997 (BC L170): Fuga
9. Partita for lute in C minor, BWV 997 (BC L170): Sarabande
10. Partita for lute in C minor, BWV 997 (BC L170): Gigue
11. Partita for lute in C minor, BWV 997 (BC L170): Double
12. Prelude, Fugue and Allegro, for lute in E flat major, BWV 998 (BC L132): Praludium
13. Prelude, Fugue and Allegro, for lute in E flat major, BWV 998 (BC L132): Fuga
14. Prelude, Fugue and Allegro, for lute in E flat major, BWV 998 (BC L132): Allegro

Disc 2:

1. Suite for lute in G minor, BWV 995: Prelude
2. Suite for lute in G minor, BWV 995: Allemande
3. Suite for lute in G minor, BWV 995: Courante
4. Suite for lute in G minor, BWV 995: Sarabande
5. Suite for lute in G minor, BWV 995: Gavottes 1 & 2
6. Suite for lute in G minor, BWV 995: Gigue
7. Suite for lute in E minor, BWV 996 (BC L166): Passagio... Presto
8. Suite for lute in E minor, BWV 996 (BC L166): Allemande
9. Suite for lute in E minor, BWV 996 (BC L166): Courante
10. Suite for lute in E minor, BWV 996 (BC L166): Sarabande
11. Suite for lute in E minor, BWV 996 (BC L166): Bourree
12. Suite for lute in E minor, BWV 996 (BC L166): Gigue
13. Fugue for lute in G minor, BWV 1000
14. Prelude for lute in C minor, BWV 999 (BC L171)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #300502 in Music
• Released on: 2000-07-11
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: Import, Box set

Customer Reviews

Best Bach interpretation
This is the best recording of the Lute Suites hands down. Stephan Schmidt play a ten string instrument with tremendous sound that simply must be heard to be believed. They are played in the original key. He plays these pieces with amazing passion and feeling yet still preserves the beautiful structure and clarity of these pieces. Check out the marvelous preludes to BWV 995 and BWV 1006. The vitality of the pieces is stunning; they really spring to life. No one has recorded these better.

I have listened to nearly all of the Lute Suite recordings by various artists: John Williams is clean, but a little too dry/stale; Segovia is simply way off mark with inarticulate and romantic phrasing(AVOID); Sharon Isbin has some good stuff but the way she plays the 1006 prelude is lacking in joy and passion; Paul Galbraith has awesome technique that yields some great interpretations but the sound engineering is less than his violin sonatas/partitas disc--(nonetheless EXCELLENT though). Eduardo Fernandez also has some good stuff but his guitar (Paul Fischer?) is so dry that it is irritating. Kevin Gallagher has recorded the best Prelude, Fugue, & Allegro interpretation (BWV998) but has not recorded the other Suites, unfortunately.

This is by far the best recording of these pieces. I only wish I knew who made his guitar. Everything on this recording sounds so beautiful. Stephan Schmidt is an artist of the highest caliber. Very impressive indeed.

A step back into the reality of yesteryear
The guitar as we know it today featured 10 strings, not the 6 or 12 we are accustomed to. It was an evolving instrument ranging from a few strings to many, and in Bach's time, the standard was 10. Since then, artists have rewritten and arranged the Lute Suite to accomodate their version of the guitar, with its non-ten strings. While the results were delightful and lovely in their own way, the public has been prevented from hearing these wonderful works in their own "language".

Stephan Schmidt took it upon himself to study and learn how to produce these historical works in their original form, with the 10 string guitar, and the results are - to use an overworked phrase - AWESOME. I feel like I'm sitting in an ancient palace or theatre, the smell of candle wax and dust in the air and the feel of marble or wood planks beneath my feet. The rustle of women's long gowns and the slight clearing of men's throats seems might even be heard in the distant background. The music is haunting and transforming.

For anyone who is a history buff, classical or guitar music lover, or just someone who wants to sit back and relax for the several hours of these two discs....buy this set now. You will not be sorry. Living in a time when people have the ability to create clones, which might lead to restoring dinosaurs and other extinct creatures into the world through science, Mr. Schmidt has left science behind and recreated a lost world by going back through history the old fashioned way. Thank you, Mr. Schmidt, for restoring the history to us.

Best Bach on guitar
This is an outstanding performance. Technically perfect and so full of feeling. This is the best Lute Works interpretation on guitar I ever heard and I have a lot of them, like Segovia, Williams, Sollscher etc.