Notes and Editorial Reviews
An ideal disc for those looking for a cheap introduction to Segovia's peerless musicianship.
To this composite re-release of old recordings by Spanish guitar legend Andrés Segovia, Alto furnish brand-new notes by Peter Avis. After a biographical sketch of the guitarist, these take the listener composer by composer through the programme, making links where appropriate with Segovia, whose unique talent inspired so many.
Segovia's 'recital' here is essentially a collection of shortish mood pieces, slightly off the beaten track, generally Spanish in character, and light and airy on the whole, rather than flashily virtuosic: welcoming music to Segovian newcomer and old hand alike. Conveniently,
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the pieces - which include both original guitar works and Segovia's trademark transcriptions - are arranged more or less in chronological order. They begin with Luys Milán (Luis de Milán) and end with two more substantial, stylish items from Manuel Ponce and Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco for the more seasoned listener.
Sound quality overall is very good - so much so that the majority of these recordings can be considered the equal of some modern ones. Precise dates and venues are not given, but there is surprisingly little variation in quality across the programme - the 1954 pieces have some background hiss and less of a true stereo feel, but there is little cause for complaint. Credit is certainly due to Paul Arden-Taylor, who is responsible for the mastering for Alto.
From an orthographical point of view the layout is rather scrappy on the back cover, which has quite an array of fonts, omitted diacritics, misapplied bold print, the odd random capitalisation or wrong date. Most of these faults are rectified for the inner track-listing, however. The booklet notes only seldom stray: "harpicshord", for example, or Avis' assertion that Haydn wrote "literally hundreds of works" for the baryton.
At any rate, technical quality, a generous timing and Alto's budget retail price combine to make this an ideal disc for those looking for a cheap introduction to Segovia's peerless musicianship, or for anyone, for that matter, after a low-price CD of appealingly reflective, audience-friendly guitar pieces by some of the great composers for the instrument.
-- Byzantion, MusicWeb International
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Works on This Recording
1.
Libro de música de vihuela de mano intitulado El maestro: Pavana no 6 in D major by Luis de Milan
Performer:
Andrés Segovia (Guitar)
Period: Renaissance
Written: 1536; Spain
Date of Recording: 1960-61
Length: 2 Minutes 11 Secs.
2.
Libro de música de vihuela de mano intitulado El maestro: Pavana no 5 by Luis de Milan
Performer:
Andrés Segovia (Guitar)
Period: Renaissance
Written: by 1536; Valencia, Spain
Date of Recording: 1960-61
Length: 1 Minutes 16 Secs.
3.
Giga melancolica by Anonymous
Performer:
Andrés Segovia (Guitar)
Date of Recording: 1960-61
Length: 1 Minutes 56 Secs.
4.
String Quartet, Op. 74/3: Largo assai by Franz Joseph Haydn
Performer:
Andrés Segovia (Guitar)
Period: Classical
Written: 1793
Date of Recording: 1960-61
Length: 5 Minutes 38 Secs.
5.
String Quartet, Op. 76/1: Menuet by Franz Joseph Haydn
Performer:
Andrés Segovia (Guitar)
Period: Classical
Written: 1797
Date of Recording: 1960-61
Length: 3 Minutes 59 Secs.
6.
Piezas características (12), Op. 92: no 7, Zambra granadina by Isaac Albeniz
Performer:
Andrés Segovia (Guitar)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1888-1889; Madrid, Spain
Date of Recording: 1960-61
Length: 4 Minutes 43 Secs.
7.
Gallardas, for guitar (from Instrucción de música sobre la guitarra española, Book 2) by Gaspar Sanz
Performer:
Andrés Segovia (Guitar)
Period: Baroque
Date of Recording: 1960-61
Length: 2 Minutes 40 Secs.
8.
Españolito, for guitar by Gaspar Sanz
Performer:
Andrés Segovia (Guitar)
Date of Recording: 1960-61
Length: 1 Minutes 23 Secs.
9.
Sonata for Harpsichord in G major, K 79/L 80 by Domenico Scarlatti
Performer:
Andrés Segovia (Guitar)
Period: Baroque
Written: 18th Century
Date of Recording: 1960-61
Length: 2 Minutes 43 Secs.
10.
Pétites Pièces (6) for Guitar, Op. 5: Andante largo by Fernando Sor
Performer:
Andrés Segovia (Guitar)
Period: Classical
Date of Recording: 1960-61
Length: 5 Minutes 34 Secs.
11.
Sonata, Op. 22: Rondo by Fernando Sor
Performer:
Andrés Segovia (Guitar)
Period: Classical
Written: Spain
Date of Recording: 1960-61
Length: 4 Minutes 10 Secs.
12.
Songs without words, vol 2, Op. 30: no 3, Andante sostenuto in E major by Felix Mendelssohn
Performer:
Andrés Segovia (Guitar)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1833-1834; Germany
Date of Recording: 1960-61
Length: 2 Minutes 15 Secs.
13.
Romanza de los Piños by Federico Moreno-Torroba
Performer:
Andrés Segovia (Guitar)
Period: 20th Century
Written: Spain
Date of Recording: 1960-61
Length: 1 Minutes 49 Secs.
14.
Prelude (1925) for guitar by Manuel Ponce
Performer:
Andrés Segovia (Guitar)
Period: Romantic
Date of Recording: 1954
Length: 1 Minutes 48 Secs.
15.
Prelude allemande, for guitar by Manuel Ponce
Performer:
Andrés Segovia (Guitar)
Period: Modern
Date of Recording: 1954
Length: 2 Minutes 38 Secs.
16.
Canciones Populares Mexicana: No. 3 by Manuel Ponce
Performer:
Andrés Segovia (Guitar)
Period: Romantic
Written: circa 1925-1926
Date of Recording: 1954
Length: 1 Minutes 30 Secs.
17.
Serenata burlesca by Federico Moreno-Torroba
Performer:
Andrés Segovia (Guitar)
Date of Recording: 1954
Length: 2 Minutes 56 Secs.
18.
Capriccio Diabolico for Guitar, Op. 85 "Omaggio a Paganini" by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco
Performer:
Andrés Segovia (Guitar)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1935; Florence, Italy
Date of Recording: 1954
Length: 9 Minutes 11 Secs.
19.
Suite No. 12 in E minor: Passacaille by Robert de Visée
Performer:
Andrés Segovia (Guitar)
Period: Baroque
Date of Recording: 1960-61
Length: 3 Minutes 13 Secs.
20.
Theme, Variations and Finale for Guitar by Manuel Ponce
Performer:
Andrés Segovia (Guitar)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1926; Paris, France
Date of Recording: 1954
Length: 7 Minutes 56 Secs.
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