Audio CD review:
Agustin Barrios-Mangore, David Russell - Music of Barrios

Agustin Barrios-Mangore, David Russell - Music of Barrios

Band: Agustin Barrios-Mangore, David Russell Title: Music of Barrios Rating: Release Date: 28 February, 1995 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Un Sueno En La Floresta 2: Gavota Madrigal 3: Danza Paraguaya No. 1 4: Danza Paraguaya No. 2: Jha, Che Valle! 5: Danza Paraguaya No. 3 : London Carape 6: Julia Florida 7: Vals, Op. 8, No. 3 8: Vals De Primavera 9: Vals Tropical 10: Vals, Op. 8, No. 4 11: Las Abejas 12: Fabiniana 13: Mazurka Apasionata 14: Pais De Abanico 15: Cueca 16: I. Preludio (Saudade) 17: II. Andante Religioso 18: III. Allegro Solemne 19: A Mi Madre 20: Caazapa 21: Una Limosna Por El Amor De Dios

Customer Reviews David Russell comes second in Augustin Barrios' classical guitar music to Berta Rojas At that time I had not heard either John Williams' most recent all Barrios CD, "From the Jungles of Paraguay," and knew nothing of Berta Rojas except for having learned of her from another Amazon. Sometime earlier I reviewed this CD, recommending it to enthusiasts to Augustin Barrios' guitar music who don't know Barrios' music that well. com customer reviewer who lived in Paraguay. David Russell's all Barrios CD remains a very fine CD, with his typical combination of outstanding technique married to a fine, intuitive way of highly musical, felt phrasing. John Williams, with whom David Russell is compared when it comes to performances of Barrios' guitar music, may be more polished than Russell, yet there is a sameness about how he plays and phrases Barrios that ultimately disappoints. Williams' CD is very much a recording yet, for me , the sheer polish Williams displays isn't satisfying isn't satisfying in the end. To me David Russell's all Barrios CD is the better of the two. Yet Berta Rojas combines the best of David Russell and John Williams, and is my overall first choice. She grew up hearing Barrios' music, and it is in her blood. She plays with an abandon and a freedom that David Russell cannot match, however good I think he is. Serious Barrios' fans of his music should have all three guitarists: Berta Rojas, David Russell and John Williams. They also should not miss Jason Vieaux's Naxos CD of Latin American guitar music, which is a gorgeous CD. Recommended. Simply Brilliant! Yep: I cannot help you by pointing to one or the other as being better in any way. I have both Russell and Williams and just finished giving Williams a five star review as well. Williams is very direct and tackles each piece effortlessly, and in particular executes the tambora technique better than Russell, (or at least, it's recorded better). Russell meanwhile (as many point out) has a peculiar ability to inject more mood and/or feeling into a given piece - not just the (boring) drama of slower numbers either, but also the excitement and energy of faster numbers. Because of this it's really well worth your while to pick up EVERYTHING Russell has recorded: I've yet to encounter something I didn't like a LOT. I particularly enjoy the Danza Paraguaya tunes featured here, but prefer Williams for Cueca, and for his inclusion of Maxixa and Aconquija. . . in short: you've got to get both to fully appreciate the genius of Barrios! . 6 Stars David Russell makes these pieces sound like they were of average difficulty and his spontaneity is incredible. This is some of the most difficult guitar music ever written. Much more spontaneous than Williams. Williams takes some liberty when making chord changes, etc. and it almost becomes redundant and boring. Russell does none of that. All of the pieces are flowing and absolutely beautiful. The feeling of the pieces comes shining through. There is so much going on in this music which makes it so interesting and Russell overlooks nothing. Much of these compositions sound like there are two guitars as you will see when you listen to this. There is no guitar composition like a Barrios composition. Amazing. . You can see a complete list of all Agustin Barrios-Mangore, David Russell discography, or go back to the Agustin Barrios-Mangore, David Russell tabs