Duo Mignarda – Shakespeare’s Lutebook
The music on this album is the result of decades of research and many lecture-recitals performed across the US, with publication of a book of scores bearing the same title, Shakespeare’s Lutebook. We do not pretend to know whether Shakespeare the playwright played the lute —or whether the historical figure of Shakespeare the playwright existed at all. But we know that the plays were a collaborative effort written and produced in concert with several of the best literary and musical figures of the Elizabethan/Jacobean age, and indications for music in Shakespeare plays was as ubiquitous as any other stage direction. Much of the music appearing in the plays is of a lighter character, suitable for capering and jollification in an outdoor theater. But the historical music Mignarda chooses is typically of a more complex nature, and was likely performed in an indoor theater where subtlety and nuance, an essential characteristic of music for voice and lute, might actually be heard. Our approach is to convey the texts with understanding, choosing historical musical settings when they survive, but employing informed choices of historical style and convention when the original setting is lost to history.
Shakespeare’s Lutebook is a personal selection of music drawn from some of the most iconic plays, and we share our interpretations to offer the listener some insight into the music common to Shakespeare’s time.
Prima Classic – PRIMA031
THE ARTIST
CREDITS
Executive Producer: Edgardo Vertanessian
All music edited and arranged from original sources by Ron Andrico ©Mignarda Editions
Texts edited and arranged by Donna Stewart ©Mignarda Editions
Recorded at the Lava Room, Independence, Ohio
Recording and editing: Mike Brown
Mixing and mastering: Edgardo Vertanessian
Cover design: Tatyana Vlasova and Andrew Vlasov
Photography by Eglantyne Design, and Album notes by Ron Andrico
Booklet design: Romina Pacor
Lutes used in this album:
Eight-course lute in F by Robert Lundberg
Ten-course lute in F by Nico Van der Waals
Eight-course lute in D by Martin De Witte
Six-course lute in D by Sandi Harris & Stephen Barber
Eight-course lute in G by Richard Fletcher
Catalog PRIMA031 © & ℗ 2023 Prima Classic. All trademarks and logos are protected. All rights reserved.