José Miguel Moreno / Eligio Quinteiro LUYS MILÁN Fantasía

This is the second instalment in an innovative line of work that the ever-restless José Miguel Moreno, founder and principal artist of Glossa, inaugurated with the recently issued Semper Dowland Semper Dolens. Together with Eligio Quinteiro, the magnificent plucked-string continuo player living in London, Moreno proposes an intellectual exercise which consists in adding a second instrumental part, in the manner of a second voice, counterpoint and harmonic development, to pieces that were originally conceived for a solo instrument. The recording technique utilised enhances the total interweaving of the instrumental resources, making the two discrete sound sources almost indistinguishable.

In line with a philosophy grounded in historical criteria, this procedure favours the possible over the probable. With a profound understanding of the music of Luys Milán, whose works he has previously recorded on CDs that have since become points of reference, Moreno once again surprises us with this emotive journey to the Spanish Renaissance. (GLOSSA)

José Miguel Moreno / Eligio Quinteiro SEMPER DOWLAND SEMPER DOLENS

One of the most attractive and poignant repertories from across the whole Renaissance is undoubtedly to be found in the output of John Dowland, the composer of the greatly-admired Lachrimae and the musical representative of a whole philosophical, literary and artistic outlook when it comes to evoking melancholy. Lutenist José Miguel Moreno, co-founder of Glossa and architect of cult recordings devoted to Sylvius Leopold Weiss, J.S. Bach and Robert de Visée, could not miss out on his encounter with English repertoire and, in 2002, he recorded this double disc covering, across some 32 pieces, the most significant of Dowland’s works, and accompanied by Eligio Quinteiro on the theorbo or gittern (Renaissance guitar). This is one of those albums which define the whole aesthetic standpoint of a label… (GLOSSA)