Jakob Lindberg Lute, Archlute, Theorbo   

Swedish lutenist Jakob Lindberg began his studies on the guitar after being inspired by the music of the Beatles. His guitar teacher, Jörgen Rörby, introduced him to the lute, which he went on to study at Stockholm University and the Royal College of Music in London. His studies with Diana Poulton and Carlos Bonell in London further focused his interests on performing Renaissance and Baroque music on period instruments. Among the rare instruments he uses is one of the few extant lutes by the Augsburg maker Sixtus Rauwolf (ca. 1595). He has made an extraordinary number of recordings for Bis, often presenting lute music that has never before been recorded. The repertoire he has championed includes lute music by Scottish composers; Italian music for the chitarrone; and chamber music by Vivaldi, Haydn, and Boccherini. He is the first lutenist to have recorded the complete solo lute music by John Dowland and he has received critical acclaim for his interpretations of Bach's music for solo lute. In 1985, he formed the Dowland Consort, specializing in music of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods, particularly that of Dowland and Weiss. Lindberg has performed as a continuo player on the theorbo and arch lute with many of the most active period nstrument ensembles, including the English Concert, Taverner Choir, the Purcell Quartet, Monteverdi Choir, Chiaroscuro, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and the Academy of Ancient Music. He is a frequent collaborator with singers such as Emma Kirkby, Anne Sofie von Otter, Nigel Rogers, and Ian Partridge. For the Royal Swedish Opera at the Drottningholm Court Theatre, he has directed several Baroque operas from the chitarrone, including Purcell's Dido and Aeneas in 1995 (where he co-directed the production with Andrew Parrot) and Jacopo Peri's Euridice in 1997. Lindberg made his solo recital debut at the Wigmore Hall in 1978, and since then has toured Europe, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Australia, Canada, and the United States. He teaches at the Royal College of Music in London, where he succeeded Diana Poulton as professor of lute in 1979. Richard Popplewell's Variations on Brigg Fair for solo lute (1988) was composed for Lindberg.

© Robert Adelson, All Music Guide