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Edin Karamazov – The Lute is A Song

At last we have an excuse to take more interest in the lute without simply tracing the whimsy of a washed-up Rock star (see Sting’s attempt). Bosnian born Lutenist, Edin Karamazov, has set out to create an album with the sole intention of making his instrument sing.
The collection of four songs and four pieces combine to form an incredible record which displays not only the sheer virtuosity of Karamazov himself, but also the incredible diversity and mystical nature of the lute.
Lute recordings may usually – perhaps understandably – remain ignored by the general public, but this album comes highly recommended to all open-minded music-lovers.
Excellent adaptations of iconic Baroque pieces, including Purcell’s ‘Dido’s Lament’ and J.S Bach’s ‘Toccata and Fugue in D minor’, stand out as exceptional examples of the expressional capabilities of the gigantic theorbo, an orchestral and solo instrument too often regarded as largely redundant, or simply as belonging only in the mid to late eighteenth century.
This record is a testimony to the revival and re-introduction of the lute. Karamazov is unafraid to juxtapose early music with modern: you may find more than you bargained for in this CD.
‘So Maki Sum Se Rodila’, a Macedonian folk song featuring the haunting voice of Kaliopi, is a beautiful articulation of both performers’ Balkan heritage, and adds to the cultural diversity of chosen tracks.
Edin Karamazov is joined by several friends along the way, including highly esteemed figures such as the countertenor Andreas Scholl, soprano Renée Fleming and even the aforementioned international nuisance Sting.
It was only a relatively short time ago that Sting was assisted by the Bosnian to assemble his own album of John Dowland’s seventeenth century lute songs, bringing early music, and the lute, into the spotlight after its considerably long  wait in the shadow of ‘popular classical music’.
Karamazov light heartedly admits that he may be only the second most famous Lutenist after Sting, but in the wake of this record it seems clear that this relegation to second place is no just indication of his talent as a musician.

3/5

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