Notes and Editorial Reviews
Here are five excellent works for guitar and orchestra. The longest are the pair by Roberto Sierra (b. 1953), each a few seconds over 13 minutes. Folías is a modern set of variations on that tune most of us first met in Corelli’s variations (La folia). Concierto barroco combines Afro-Cuban and Baroque elements. It also contains some modern dissonances or polytonalities along with its neo-Baroque passages. Folías sounds rather like Richard Strauss combined with Manuel de Falla and seasoned with a dash of Joaquín Rodrigo. Sierra’s pieces begin and end the concert, while Vivaldi’s typically vigorous—and genuinely Baroque—concertos are second and fourth on the disc. Arvo Pärt’s mesmerizing Fratres serves as
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centerpiece.
Pärt wrote Fratres for violin, string orchestra, and percussion, but suggested this arrangement when Manuel Barrueco approached him about writing a work for guitar. I have compared the guitar version with the original on a Deutsche Grammophon disc with violinist Gil Shaham, conductor Neeme Järvi, and the Gothenburg Symphony; either version holds my attention very well indeed.
As expected, Barrueco plays splendidly, and so does the Symphony Orchestra of Galicia, based in La Coruña—yet another provincial band capable of world-class performance. Koch delivers deliciously warm and vivid sound. This disc will be high on my list of potential holiday presents.
Robert McColley, FANFARE
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Works on This Recording
1.
Folias by Roberto Sierra
Performer:
Manuel Barrueco (Guitar)
Conductor:
Victor Pablo Pérez
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Galicia Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: Puerto Rico
Date of Recording: 12/2002
Venue: La Coruña, Spain
Length: 13 Minutes 8 Secs.
2.
Concerto for Guitar in D major by Antonio Vivaldi
Performer:
Manuel Barrueco (Guitar)
Conductor:
Victor Pablo Pérez
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Galicia Symphony Orchestra
Period: Baroque
Written: Venice, Italy
Date of Recording: 12/2002
Venue: La Coruña, Spain
3.
Fratres by Arvo Pärt
Performer:
Manuel Barrueco (Guitar)
Conductor:
Victor Pablo Pérez
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Galicia Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1977-1980; Estonia
Date of Recording: 12/2002
Venue: La Coruña, Spain
Length: 10 Minutes 1 Secs.
4.
Concierto Barroco by Roberto Sierra
Performer:
Manuel Barrueco (Guitar)
Conductor:
Victor Pablo Pérez
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Galicia Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Date of Recording: 12/2002
Venue: La Coruña, Spain
Length: 13 Minutes 9 Secs.
5.
Chamber Concerto for Lute and 2 Violins in D major, RV 93 by Antonio Vivaldi
Performer:
Manuel Barrueco (Guitar)
Conductor:
Victor Pablo Pérez
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Galicia Symphony Orchestra
Period: Baroque
Written: Venice, Italy
Date of Recording: 12/2002
Venue: Palacio de Congresos de la Coruña
Length: 9 Minutes 49 Secs.
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