Isaac Albeniz, Mateo Albeniz, Francis Cutting, John Dowland, Manuel de Falla, Enrique Granados, Joaquin Rodrigo, Gaspar Sanz, Francisco Tarrega, Heitor Villa-Lobos - Ultimate Guitar Collection
Band: Isaac Albeniz, Mateo Albeniz, Francis Cutting, John Dowland, Manuel de Falla, Enrique Granados, Joaquin Rodrigo, Gaspar Sanz, Francisco Tarrega, Heitor Villa-Lobos Title: Ultimate Guitar Collection Rating: Release Date: 09 March, 1999 Media: Audio CD
Tracks: 1: Allegro Giusto 2: Largo 3: Allegro 4: Packington's Pound 5: Greensleeves 6: Fantasia 'A Fancy' 7: Canarios 8: Sonata In D 9: Leyenda (Asturias) 10: The Three Cornered Hat: The Millar's Dance 11: Recuerdos De La Alhambra 12: Choros No.1 13: Andantino Espressivo 14: Poco Animato 15: En Los Trigales 16: Allegro Con Spirito 17: Adagio 18: Allegro Con Brio 19: Mallorca, Op. 202 - Albeniz 20: Cataluna 21: Granada 22: Sevilla 23: Cadiz 24: Cordoba 25: Dedicatoria 26: La Maja De Goya 27: Danza Espanola No. 4 28: Valses Poeticos - Granados 29: Danza Espanola No. 5 - Granados 30: Fandango 31: Passacaglia 32: Zapateado
Customer Reviews Like a rainy day in a good bookstore " That's what I think each time I listen to this collection. "Always pleasant, never a false cord. I guess I should be listening more closely, but I find the music and the virtuosity with which it is played to be a springboard to other thoughts and activities. I can read with it in the background, write with it or simply drift into thought. And that is really quite enough for me. .
Not "Ultimate", but Wonderful! An "Ultimate" collection of anything would have to be more complete, by definition, than any two CDs can be and, again, it almost goes without saying that no two people are apt to be in total agreement about what should or should not have been included in any such collection.
As good a guitarist as Julian Bream is, one must begin by acknowledging that the title of this 2-CD set containing 32 admittedly seminal pieces written for hand-played strings ( primarily, the lute) is a tad hyperbolistic. All caveats considered and aside, this is, indeed, a thoughtfully selected and masterfully performed collection of what is, unarguably, some of the very best classical pieces ever written for the lute. Bream plays some of them on the guitar and others on a renaissance lute - the latter giving a somewhat truer indication of the stylings and musical nuances intended by the various composers. But, even the pieces he plays on the guitar - an instrument that, in it's current form, did not exist when many of the pieces were originally composed - are sensitive and lyrical interpretations that sound as if they MIGHT have been composed for the guitar.
Without spending space here reiterating the specific pieces, their titles and lengths, I will simply list the composers whose works Bream presents so nicely in this collection. They span a range of about five centuries beginning in the time of England's Elizabeth I and spanning the years through to the 20th Century's premier Spanish and Brazilian classical guitar composers. The list reads like a `Whose Who" of classical plucked-string instrument music and of composers whose keyboard compositions work particularly well on the strings of a lute or guitar, and includes;
- John Dowland
- Francis Cutting
- Antonio Vivaldi
- Gaspar Sanz (*)
- Mateo Albeniz (*)
- Manuel de Falla
- Enrique Granados (*)
- Hector Villa-Lobos, and
- Joaquin Rodrigo
(*) = Pieces originally written for keyboard play.
Every classical guitarist has his own recognizable style and approach to the instrument and the material. An experience listener would not confuse Bream's work with that of Andres Segovia, for example: but it is not that one is better than the other. Each, in his own distinctive way, is simply superb. Though the Spanish influence is clearly audible with both musicians, Bream's stylings have a more contemporary lilt and inflection than do those of Segovia; he makes each piece his own. One suspects that each time he plays a piece it comes out differently according to the moment, his mood, the instrument and God knows what else. Segovia, on the other hand, was well known for his constancy once he had found a version of each piece that fully suited his own ear and temperament.
While I am admittedly a Segovia fan, I find Bream's renditions to be noticeably fresher and each infused with an aura of presence in the here-and-now which I find especially enjoyable.
The collection is neither complete not `ultimate', but it is VERY good and well worth having in any collection of classical guitar music. In fact, for audiophiles not familiar with this genre, it is a fair place to begin to develop an ear for and a listener's knowledge of and experience with the classical guitar.
I recommend it highly. .
Everyone would love this album! Easy to listen to and wonderful background music for working or dinner parties. This album is fantastic.
Isaac Albeniz, Mateo Albeniz, Francis Cutting, John Dowland, Manuel de Falla, Enrique Granados, Joaquin Rodrigo, Gaspar Sanz, Francisco Tarrega, Heitor Villa-Lobos menu:
