The theorbo is a plucked instrument of the lute family, with an extended neck and a second peg-board. Due to extended bass range it was used in the early Italian operas and in the basso continuo, the accompanying instrumental ensemble. Swedish theorbist Simon Linne chose an adventurous programme for his first Brilliant Clasics album: the complete surviving works for theorbo by Michelango Bartolotti, alongside works by Robert de Visee (the best known composer in this genre) and Le Moyne, of whom hardly anything is known, except that he must have been a virtuoso on his instrument. Simon Linne is a much sought-after theorbist who appears both as soloist as in ensemble, and has collaborated in recordings for Hyperion, Sony, and Ricercar.
