Favourite Lute Recordings (from 1998)
My top five all-time favourite lute recordings: results of a Lute Society members' poll in Spring 1998
Awarding points to members' preferences (five for a top favourite, four for a second favourite, and so on) the results were as follows. The preponderance of low scoring (i.e. nominated only once or twice) recordings reflects the diversity of members' tastes. This was first printed in Lute News 46, July 1998, and is reproduced here for the interest of lute enthusiasts.
| Points | CD title | Performer | Publisher |
| 23 | La Compagna/Fantasia de mon triste | Chris Wilson | Metronome METCD 1025 |
| 14 | Music from the Royal Courts of Europe | Julian Bream | |
| Complete Dowland | Paul O’Dette | ||
| Rosa | Chris Wilson | ||
| 12 | Bach Suites | Nigel North | |
| 9 | Vieux Gautier | Hopkinson Smith | |
| Lute Music from Scotland and France | Jakob Lindberg | BIS | |
| SL Weiss, Pieces de Luth | Hopkinson Smith | ASTREE E8718 CD | |
| Complete Works of John Dowland | Wilson/Rooley/Bailes/North/Lindberg | ||
| 8 | Francesco da Milano, Fantasias, Ricercars and Duets | Chris Wilson and Shirley Rumsey | NAXOS 8.550774 |
| English Lute Duets | Paul O’Dette/Jakob Lindberg | ||
| 7 | Pieces de Luth, French Lute Music of the 17th C | Nigel North | UEA 81704 LP |
| Three, four and twenty Lutes | Lindberg et al. | BIS CD 341 | |
| The Golden Age of English Lute Music | Julian Bream | RCA 9026-61584-2 | |
| The Woods so Wild | Julian Bream | ||
| 6 | Time Stands Still | Rooley/Kirkby | Hyperion |
| Il Tedesco della Tiorba, Kapsberger | Paul O’Dette | HARMONIA MUNDI | |
| 5 | Like as the Lute Delights | The Lute Group | Plant Life |
| [Dowland songs] | Alfred Deller/Robert Spencer | ||
| Dall’Aquila, Da Crema, Lute Music | Chris Wilson | NAXOS 8.550778 | |
| SL Weiss, Manuscrit de Londres, vol 3 | Michel Cardin | ||
| Greensleeves | McFarlane/Baird | DORIAN | |
| In Darkness Let me Dwell | Wilson/Agnew | MET CD 1011 | |
| Sanz/Santa Cruz | Lislevand | ||
| SL Weiss vol. 1 | Robert Barto | NAXOS | |
| Lute Recital | Anthony Bailes | EMI Reflexe | |
| Luys Milan, El Maestro | Hopkinson Smith | ASTREE E7740 | |
| 4 | Pieces de Lut, Denis et Ennemond Gaultier, Mouton | Tony Bailes | |
| Elizabethan Lute Songs | Pears/Bream | DECCA 444-524 | |
| Francesco da Milano, Intavolatura de Leuto | Paul O’Dette | ASTREE | |
| Art of the Bawdy Song | Baltimore Consort | ||
| Lord Herbert of Cherbury’s Lute Book | Paul O’Dette | HMU 907068 CD | |
| Vincenzo Capirola Lute Book | Federico Marincola | PIERRE VERANY PV7930 | |
| Luz y Norte | A L King | ||
| Kapsberger Libro Quarto...di Chitarone, 1640 | Lislevand | ASTREE E8515 | |
| Taquina Merula | Figueras et al | ||
| Duetti Italiani | Hopkinson Smith/O’Dette | EMI Reflexe 1C 065-45-642 LP | |
| Luys Milan, El Maestro | Hopkinson Smith/M Figueras | ASTREE E7770 | |
| Canto del Cavallero | J M Moreno | GLOSSA | |
| 3 | Between two hearts | Ronn McFarlane | DOR 90225 |
| [French Music, Le Roy etc] | Paul O’Dette | ||
| La Magdalena | Chris Wilson | VERITAS | |
| Broken Consort Music | Julian Bream Consort | RCA 09026-61589-2 | |
| John Dowland Lute Lessons | Nigel North | ARCANA | |
| Weiss | Vigo Mangor | ||
| The Baroque Lute | Michael Schaffer | ||
| Gaspar Sanz | Hopkinson Smith | ||
| Lautenmusik der Habsburgischen Lande | Anthony Bailes | ||
| Dolcissima et Amorosa | Paul O’Dette | ||
| Michaelangelo Galilei | Paul Beier | NUOVA ERA | |
| Tabulature de leut | Paul O’Dette | ASTREE E 7776 | |
| 2 | Robert de Visee, theorbo music | Nigel North | |
| Baroque Music for Lute and Guitar | Jakob Lindberg | BIS | |
| Bach Suites | Hopskinson Smith | ||
| Pieces de Theorbe, de Visee | J M Moreno | GLOSSA GCD 920104 | |
| The Renaissance Lute | Ronn McFarlane | ||
| The Cypress Curtain of the Night | ???? | ||
| Music for Vihuela | Chris Wilson | ||
| 1 | I Grandi Liutisti Milanese del Cinquecento | Joachim Held | |
| Scottish Lute Music | Jakob Lindberg | ||
| Dances of Dowland | Julian Bream | RCA 09026-61584-2 | |
| Lauten Galanterie | Anthony Bailes | EMI Reflexe 1C-065-45-645 LP | |
| [Newsidler] | Junghangel | ||
| Piccinini | Nigel North | ||
| Music of the Spanish Renaissance | Shirley Rumsey | ||
| Music of the Italian Renaissance | Shirley Rumsey | ||
| The Bohemian Lute | ???? | ||
| La Serenissima | Jakob Lindberg | ||
| La Guitarra Espanola | J M Moreno | ||
| Estampie | Thomas Binkley |