Five Centuries of Women Singers

The lyre-guitar was a fascinating, upmarket instrument that originated in Paris. Its inventor, luthier Pierre-Charles Mareschal, dated its creation to around 1780. It was very popular in the elite salons of Napoleonic era-Europe, between the late 18th and early 19th century. Its refined, elegant shape recalling the ancient Greek lyre, made it a much-vaunted status symbol among women, who believed it enhanced their grace and beauty. As well as being played by noblewomen, it was also used by musicians to accompany singers, including the French tenor Joseph Dominique Fabry-Garat and the Austrian baritone Johann Michael Vogl, a close friend of Franz Schubert.

Sara Mingardo has been creating quite a stir in baroque circles but this is my first chance to catch up with her. In one sense she may be considered a "typical" baroque singer, in the sense that she uses a completely straight vocal production, from which vibrato has been rigorously excluded, and cultivates a somewhat plangent, nasal sound, with the result that a casual listener might suppose he was listening to a counter-tenor.

Ethnomusic Ensemble ULA - Ethnomusic Ensemble ULA
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 307 MB | MP3 CBR 320: 145 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Bonifa # 00195 | Country/Year: Lithuania 1995
Genre: Folk & World | Style: Baltic Folk

Lithuanian folk music belongs to Baltic music branch which is connected with neolithic corded ware culture. In Lithuanian territory meets two musical cultures: stringed (kankliu) and wind instrument cultures. These instrumental cultures probably formed vocal traditions. Lithuanian folk music is archaic, mostly used for ritual purposes, containing elements of paganism faith…