Awarded : 5 Diapason
"A surprising discovery of a lutenist with a substantial discourse becoming even stronger with Couperin’s Baricades Mistérieuses which do not lack the harpsichord for even an instant. Admirable – both the quasi vocal support of the timbre and the perfect energy being more expressive than forcing tempos or contrasts. Philippe Ramin, Diapason, n°583 (France, 09/2010) Download
"This recording by the former Miguel Serdoura (since its issue, he has taken "Yisrael", his late mother's surname, as his own) features performances of great sensitivity and refinement. (…) Yisrael meets the challenge with a marvelous singing quality, reminding us that the lute's heyday was an age in which the voice was the model against which excellence in instrumental music was measured." Howard Posner, LSA Quaterly. The American Lute Society. (USA, 11/2009) Download
Awarded : 4 stars
"Yisrael bets everything on the euphony generated by the softness of the touch, the refinement of the stamp, the fluidity of the transitions and the subtlety in modulations. Bets everything and wins!" Bernardo Mariano, Diário de Noticias (Portugal, 10/2009). Download
"The result is certainly a magic recording. There remains clear for us, after having listened to the recital
Les Baricades Mistérieuses, that for the music to be more then a standard recital program and become poetry, we need an interpreter with the maturity, technique and refinement of Miguel Yisrael."
Manuel Minguillón, Hispanica Lyra (Espagne, 09/2009). Download
"Miguel Yisrael has a silken touch and there is passion and depth in every note he plays. At times you can hear his tutor
Hopkinson Smith in his play, but then again, Yisrael definitely has his own sound."
Marianne van der Linde, Tabulature (Holland, 05/2009). Download
Awarded : S10 / L10 / R10 / I10
"Musical insight and a masterful and refined performance characterize this original recital that can not fail to interest lovers of such a coherent but inventive musical structure as has been woven for us here. Miguel Yisrael has given us a most successful first recital, a recording that is close to becoming a sumptuous visiting card for this undeniably gifted and promising young talent!"
Noël Godts, Crescendo. (Belgium, 04/2009).
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"The playing style of Miguel Yisrael is elegant, clear, smooth and dominated by a strong personality. [...] An impressive first album from a multifaceted lutenist that we will certainly hear in the future."
Kenneth Sparr, Gitarr Och Luta. (Sweden, 04/2009). Download
"For his first solo recording, Miguel Yisrael presents us with a wonderful Baroque recital, a collection of magnificent lute pieces, which bring out the refinement and the voluptuous sonorities of the lute. This interpretation plays with Time, evoking the intricate interlacing of the carving of a lute rose, and developing the infinite variations of this circular theme. Time is a constant return, and the repeated movements create a feeling of infinite peace. The genius of the virtuoso lies in his ability to fully use the sound space he has set himself with his chosen slow tempo; he never loses the attention of the listener, who will be entranced by the subtleties of his modulations and effects. With his first solo album, he achieves his impossible gamble, the dream of every artist, turning a musical work into a true moment of eternity."
Marie-Aude Labatide-Alanore, ResMusica. (France, 04/2009). Download
"This recording of the young lutenist, Miguel Yisrael, reveals his many musical qualities; paramount, his serene and natural sense of melody and discourse stands out, never to be broken by the subtleties of tempo."
Le Monde de la Musique. (France, 03/2009). Download
