Narciso Yepes & Melos Quartett : Luigi Boccherini 3 Guitar Quintets : CD

 BOCCHERINI : Quintett No. 4 D-Dur (Gérard No. 448); Quintett No. 7 E-Moll (Gérard No. 451) ; Quintett No. 9 C-Dur (Gérard No. 453)

Narciso Yepes & Melos Quartett

Deutsche Grammophon Privilege:   429 512-2

Italian born Luigi Boccherini wrote nine works for a guitar with a string quartet, and here Narciso Yepes recorded 3 of them for Deutsche Grammophon with the Melos Quartet.

No4 in D opens the album. Set in three movements and subtitled Fandango, it begins with an Allegro Maestoso where the guitar is definitely one of five players and not the soloist throughout by any means. The guitar part is very busy and it is there the majority of the time, but the strings are definitely just as important musically speaking. The second movement Pastorale is quieter and as you might expect slower and more emotive. The final Grave Assai – Fandango, begins very slowly and seriously, not at all like a Fandango that you might be expecting. After the introduction, however, the Fandango itself enters full of rasgueado chords and plenty of quick noted action from the strings. There are few moments where the strings have to play downward glissandi in between all the musical action, and even a few moments of percussion too, and so it is noticeable that the piece is meant to create an exciting atmosphere for any audience. A good start to the album!

No7 in Em follows on, and is in four movements, commencing with an Allegro Moderato that has plenty of speed and lots of interweaving of melodies from the various instruments .An Adagio follows that is relaxed and in direct contrast to the opening, although there is still a lot of melodic interaction, that is always warm and friendly to the ear. A Minuetto and Trio is next, with the guitar starting off playing multiple arpeggiated chords under the string solo, which then becomes the contrasting trio , still very full of harmonies and instrumental interaction. The final Allegretto begins with a happy and confident melody on the guitar that then moves to the strings, to be passed back and forth, closing with a strong coda where the piece closes in an optimistic fashion on the home chord.

The final piece is No9 in C Major, again in four movements opening with an Allegro Maestoso Assai. Like the other quintets, the guitar is never, or hardly ever a solo instrument here, as the strings are always in the foreground and contributing far more than you might at first think. This first movement is a confident piece of writing that is always enjoyable and with plenty of musical action. Through this quite long movement there is a great deal of contrast in the themes and so you are never quite sure where the piece is going to go next. A melancholy Andantino slows down the music considerably and provides a serious tone for much of the movement. The Allegretto that follows is dance – like and lots of fun in its joyful music, with some very fast playing required from the guitarist at various times. The final movement, entitled Maestoso E Lento, Variazioni I – XII, La Ritirata Di Madrid, is a fine conclusion to this beautifully played and recorded album.

The pieces are probably not as well known as they should be, especially as Boccherini wrote several more of these Quintets that I can only imagine are every bit as good as the three we have here. A fine CD!

Chris Dumigan