Recorded live in Sweden on 24 July, 2014, this 2-disc set (video DVD and audio CD) captures the trio during their 25th Anniversary tour. The concert includes material from their "Mindset" collection plus some old favorites. Both discs contain the full, two-set performance. The DVD also features interview footage. (DVD is Swedish with English subtitles optional, format is NTSC playable worldwide, 16:9 aspect ratio, running time is just over 90 minutes).
The vihuela, a small guitar-like instrument with six or seven courses of double strings, is less familiar than other members of the Renaissance lute family. Only four original examples exist, and modern players who have mastered the instrument's intricacies and the breadth of its repertoire are few. This release by Japanese player Yasunori Imamura should introduce many listeners to the vihuela's riches. The music here was mostly or all written between 1536 and 1557, during (and just after) the reign of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in Spain. The music includes some by the first composer to write down music for the vihuela, Luys Milán (ca. 1500-1561), and what's even more interesting is how the music stands at the beginning of a progressive trend that would last a century and a half: the use of ground basses to structure a larger composition.