„Vollends
begeistert war das Publikum vom Abendkonzert unter dem Motto 'Remembrance of
Things Past' mit Werken von John Dowland, William Shakespeare und Croton
selbst. Wie es dem Duo gelang, mit intelligenter Emotionalität und natürlicher
Leidenschaft neue Facetten der populären Lautenlieder von Dowland zu entdecken,
das löste nachgerade Verzauberung aus, die sich in tosendem Applaus entlud.“
CONCERTO
- Das Magazin für Alte Musik
„Die
relativ wenigen Versuche, das Lautenmusikrepertoire um Musik des 20. und 21.
Jahrhunderts zu erweitern, sind den meisten Spielern und besonders dem Publikum
unbekannt geblieben. Umso erfreulicher ist es, hier von vier Liedern berichten
zu können, die meiner Meinung nach das Potenzial haben, Einzug in das
Repertoire von Lautenliederprogrammen halten zu können. Bei der Komposition der
Lautenstimme hat Croton sich keine Zwänge auferlegt und spielt munter und
anspruchsvoll drauflos... Während der Lautenist seiner Spielfreude frönt, und die Sängerin (der Sänger)
mit ihm auf Augenhöhe duettiert, bekommt das Publikum anspruchsvolle Musik
voller Raffinesse zu hören… Die Stimme von Theresia Bothe ist ein Ohrenschmaus,
Croton spielt lebendig und blitzsauber, beide musizieren auf’s Trefflichste miteinander.
So muß es sein! "
Deutsche
Lautengesellschaft, Lauten-Info
TRACK LIST mit Hörbeispielen
John Dowland (1563 – 1626)
01 Preludium
HÖRBEISPIEL:
Peter Croton (born 1957)
02 Remembrance of things past (text: William Shakespeare)
HÖRBEISPIEL:
John Dowland
03 Sleep wayward thoughts*
Peter Croton
04 While you here do snoring lie (text: William Shakespeare)
John Dowland
05 Die
not before thy day*
06 Say love if ever thou didst find*
HÖRBEISPIEL:
07 Now, O now I needs must part**
08 Go crystal tears
09 Time stands still*
10 Fine knacks for ladies*
12 Sorrow stay
13 His golden locks time hath to silver turned*
14 Flow my tears
15 All the day
16 Come, heavy sleep
Peter Croton
17 The Waking (text: Theodore Roethke)
HÖRBEISPIEL:
18 Quietness (text: Rumi,
translation by Coleman Barks)
19 Now, O now I needs must
part
Derek Lee Ragin appears on tracks 17 – 19.
World premiere recordings: #2, 4, 17 – 19.
* lute solo arranged by Peter Croton.
CD Besprechungen:
Lute
Society of
"This is a
disc of many colors. Croton is firmly versed in the lute's culture and
history
but has happily succumbed to the modern pull of his love of song, so the
CD
flits between our age and Dowland's. Where Croton takes printed texts
for his
own compositions he is the renaissance composer, albeit with modern
notes and
rhythms. Where he sets Dowland's songs to the lute where no lute solo
existed
before, he sets them with the uncanny wit and style of an anonymous
scribe in a
renaissance manuscript. "Sorrow stay," for example, would be a
delight for any lute soloist if conveniently found in some ancient book.
Derek
Lee Ragin's tenor is another exciting contrast of modern song -
especially in
Dowland's "Now, oh now" - with a perfectly subtle renaissance
sensibility, in contrast to soprano Theresia Bothe's modern shaping of
voice.
Croton offers two visions of this song: once with Dowland's melody with
Thus the music dances on both shores of the 400-year ocean that divides these ages. Croton builds his sound on a light Gottlieb lute with modern wound strings, with a sustain that echoes Bothe's long soprano lines. Croton intrepidly reaches for every bit of nuance in the poems of Roethke and Shakespeare, much as Dowland approached the poets of his day. This is an exciting record, though perhaps not for those of our current HIP persuasion."
www.allmusic.com
"This is a very unorthodox recording of John Dowland's lute songs… experimental in several ways… there are absolutely compelling moments here, and this disc belongs in any serious Dowland collection or in that of anyone who simply enjoys speculative modes of performance. The designer of the performance seems to be lutenist Peter Croton, who treats the Dowland songs in various ways: playing them straight, ornamenting them, and adding preludes and central sections. The most immediately unusual thing general listeners may notice is the voice of soprano Theresia Bothe… Her singing is almost vibrato-free (vibrato creeps in as a feathery ornament at phrase ends or as a point of emphasis elsewhere), spot-on accurate when it comes to pitch, and yet well supported from below with just a hint of roughness. It is not a "pure" voice, but it is nevertheless suited to the pitch demands of Dowland's music. Bothe may be a matter of taste, but for some listeners she'll be a matter of serious addiction. If all this is not enough, Croton composes new lute songs loosely based on Renaissance models where the tonality and phrasing are pushed, but the idiom is recognizable… and a set of three at the end, (with) Derek Lee Ragin, also a compelling and distinctive vocalist… there are plenty of really gorgeous moments along the way, and the entire disc benefits from an X-factor related to genuine risk-taking. Sample Bothe's absolutely limpid take on Go crystal tears (track 8), or Croton's orginal setting of Theodore Roethke's poem "The Waking" (track 17), which, like the other Croton pieces, is a world premiere. Add in unusually good lute-song sound that is absolutely clear with a minimum of fuss from Switzerland's Guild label, and you have a really noteworthy offbeat release."
American Record Guide
Januar/Februar 2011
“Peter Croton and Theresia Bothe have worked together for some years now, and they have a fine partnership. Bothe has a good voice for these songs – pure and sweet.”