TARREGA: 16 Preludios; La Dos Hermanitas; Adelita ( Mazurka); Marieta ( Mazurka) ; Mazurka in G; Maria (Gavota);Recuerdos de la Alhambra; Rosita (Polka); Pepita ( Polka); Capricho Arabe (Serenata);Paquito (Vals); Gran Vals; Alborada ( Capricho); Isabel ( Vals) ; Vals (inD); Pavana; Estudio Brillante de Alard.
Mats Bergstrom
Naxos : 8.572365
Francisco Tarrega is rightly acclaimed as one of the gods of the modern classical guitar and as a result his works have always been in players’ files and on their music stands for decades. The one thing that is almost constantly changing is just how many pieces he did write and arrange, as only 19 works were published during his lifetime.
Mats Bergstrom has here picked a select number of them for this recording, and one of the first things you notice is how his tempi differ in a number of pieces from other players. Pieces that you or I thought should be played at such and such a speed, are in a few places quite different here, not that that negates them at all, as with many of Tarrega’s works, players differ in how exactly to play them ,considerably more than in most composer’s pieces. So if you have already got recordings of some of these, Bergstrom’s performances here might give you a completely different perspective on them.
His playing is impeccable throughout and the recording is beautifully clear and natural. With 31 tracks on this CD, it is obvious that a lot of them are very small, for example the 16 Preludes that begin this recital are all over with, in a little over 16 minutes, miniatures in the true meaning of the word. The rest of the recital varies from the extremely well – known (Recuerdos de la Alhambra) to perhaps lesser well – known pieces such as Paquito (Vals). Whatever the piece however they are lovely performances, all in that very romantic style that he wrote in, and therefore this recital is ideal for listeners who like their music easy to listen to, and moreover warm and friendly to the ears, and as such this CD does its job superbly.
Chris Dumigan