Loutnová hudba v Praze a Vídni circa 1700 - CD

Count Losy, an aristocrat among lutenists, was introduced to the lute in his youth and became such a virtuoso that he had no equal in France or Italy, according to the music historian Gottfried Johann Dlabacž. Count Jan Antonín Losy of Losinthal came from a family originating in Lombardy, but was born and spent most of his life in Bohemia, while his fame spread throughout Europe. After his death, his younger colleague Silvius Leopold Weiss honoured his memory with the famous Tombeau. Losy was also an accomplished harpsichordist and violinist, and this recording reveals that his musical output was much more varied than the lute repertoire associated with him today. Alongside the lute, the programme features harpsichord, flute and violin, reflecting period sources that describe chamber performances with additional instruments, especially violin and bowed bass. The recording’s main performer, Jan Čižmář, reconstructed several works from manuscripts scattered across Europe and invited colleagues from the Polish Orkiestra historyczna ensemble. The programme includes Losy’s Partita in D minor for lute, violin and viola da gamba, Suites in B-flat major and C major, a G major Suite for harpsichord, a D minor Gigue for solo violin, and an A major Concertus, followed by Weiss’s Tombeau on the death of Count Losy in 1721 for lute. The performers are Jan Čižmář on lutes, Martyna Pastuszka on violin, Marta Kratochvílová on flute, Anna Firlus on harpsichord and Krzysztof Firlus on viola da gamba.