PIAZZOLLA: Libertango; ALBENIZ (Arr N.Kraft ) : Suite Espanola No1 Op47 : MOREL: Danza Brasilera: TARREGA : Capricho Arabe; Gran Vals; Recuerdos de la Alhambra: MYERS : Cavatina (from the Deer Hunter): VILLA – LOBOS : Choros No1 in Em W161 ‘ Choro Tipico’: RODRIGO: Fandango from 3 Piezas Espanolas: BARRIOS MANGORE: Un Sueno en la Floresta (Souvenir d’un Reve); Andante Religioso from La Catedral : DOMENICONI :Presto from Koyunbaba Op19: BROUWER: La Huida de los Amantes from El Decameron Negro : SOR: No12 in Dm from 24 Progressive Lessons Op31: MORENO TORROBA: Jeringonza from Aires de la Mancha : DE FALLA: Danza Ritual del Fuego from El Amor Brujo (Arr C. Gruber and P .Maklar for 2 guitars): PONCE : Estrellita from 2 Canciones Mexicanas: BACH: Tempo di Bourree from Violin Partita No1 in Bm (arr V.Hoh):PAGANINI: Caprice No24 in Am , from 24 Caprices for solo violin Op1 MS25
PERFORMERS :
Victor Villadangos , Ana Vidovic; Norbert Kraft; Andrea Bissoli; Dale Kavanagh; Antigoni Goni: Celil Rafik Kaya; Mats Bergstrom; Elena Papandreou : Pepe Romero; Duo Gruber and Maklar; Adam Holzman; Irina Kulikova; Volker Hoh; Ali Arango and Marco Tamayo.
Naxos 8578176 : CD
The CD starts with an exciting and yet beautiful arrangement of Piazzolla’s Libertango as played by Victor Villadangos. Morel’s Danza Brasiliera really moves, and a fair bit faster than a lot of guitarists take it, but this another great piece by a wonderful composer I have been lucky enough to meet some years ago, and watch him play. Indeed Morel is a man who has written such a large amount of great music, that it is always nice to hear such a fine performance as this by Celil Rafik Kaya. After a nice recording by Norbert Kraft of Myers’ Cavatina, we find a slightly moody and thoughtful Choros No1 by Villa Lobos before a bitingly sharp version of Rodrigo’s Fandango, always a very difficult piece to bring off, which Dale Kavanagh manages superbly well, and sounding quite different from John William’s landmark recording from many years ago, which is the place where I first came across this strangely beautiful piece of writing. The works of Barrios have a special place in my heart, as anyone who has followed my story will know, and this Un Sueno en la Floresta , one of the best tremolo pieces ever written , as performed by Antigoni Goni, is one of the finest I have heard. Then we get the final movement of one of the 20th Century’s masterpieces, Carlo Domeniconi’s Koyunbaba with its very unusual guitar tuning and devastatingly difficult writing that Celil Rafik Kaya brings off superbly as if it was a mere walk in the park! The Gran Vals of Tarrega as played by Mats Bergstrom is a large musical contrast to the previous, and anyone who thinks they don’t know the piece, will at least recognize one of the opening lines as the one used by Nokia for its ring tones back in the 1990s! Elena Papandreous follows with the fifth movement from Leo Brouwer’s El Decameron Negro, a relative rarity that is modern but accessible, as so often is the case with Leo Brouwer’s superb guitar writing. A relative Sor rarity follows from Norbert Kraft, in a stylish and nicely controlled rendition of the 12th of the 24 Progressive Lessons Op31. It never ceases to amaze me how musical Sor’s studies prove to be, whilst other writers of his day, failed miserably to manage to make their studies more than just technical exercises, though they tried very hard. After Moreno Torroba’s beautifully tuneful Jeringonza comes the only piece that is not a solo, with the Duo Gruber and Maklar excitingly rendering a fine performance of De Falla’s Danza Rituel Del Fuego from El Amor Brujo. Manuel Ponce’s most famous composition was one he never benefited monetarily from as he innocently sold off the rights to it, after which it became a worldwide success in many formats, no doubt making the new owners of the piece, very rich in the process. Estrellita gets a warm and emotional performance from Adam Holzman here. A nice and technically superb version of one of Bach’s most famous instrumental movements by Volker Hoh, leads onto Ali Arango’s moving 2nd movement of La Catedral from Barrios. However the real fireworks are saved for the final work the famous 24th Caprice, originally for violin by Paganini, as played here by Marco Tamayo. Anyone who can play this successfully on the guitar has my utmost respect and Tamayo dispatches it all wonderfully well.
So in summation, this is a very varied recital of some quite rare pieces, mixed in with the off few that you will have multiple times already, but at the Naxos price, and with these brilliant and very varied performances by some wonderful players, it is worth the few pounds you will need to get it!
Chris Dumigan