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Andrés Segovia - 1950s American
Recordings Volume 3
Jean-Delphin ALARD (1815–1888)
Ten Artistic Studies for Violin, Op. 19:
No. 2: Study in A (arr. Tárrega) [2:05]
Francisco TÁRREGA (1852–1909)
Marieta (Mazurka) [2:21]
Preludio No. 5 [1:47]
Preludio No. 2 [2:08]
María (Gavota) [1:28]
Mazurka in G [1:59]
Adelita (Mazurka) [1:18]
Capricho árabe [5:28]
Recuerdos de la Alhambra [5:13]
Isaac ALBENIZ (1860–1909)
Suite española, Op. 47:
No. 5: Asturias(Leyenda) [6:24]
Julián AGUIRRE (1868–1924)
Canción [1:08]
Joaquín MALATS (1872–1912)
Serenata española [3:43]
Manuel PONCE (1882–1948)
Preludes I, III, IV, VI, VII & IX [7:24]:
Tres canciones populares mexicanas:
Mexican Folksong No. 3: La Valentina [1:30]
Thème varié et Finale [7:56]
Sonata III: (Allegro
moderato [6:43] Chanson. Andante [3:09] Allegro non troppo
[5:18])
From Four Pieces:
Mazurka [3:50] Valse [3:09]
Oscar ESPLÁ (1886–1976)
Levantine Impressions, Nos. 2, 5 [3:30]
Andrés Segovia
(guitar)
rec. New York, April 1952–April 1956
NAXOS 8.111091 [77:33]
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The first thing to notice when listening to this disc is excellent
quality of the recording. The original LPs were obviously
splendid sources and the transfers have been very successful.
In many of these historical transfers series Naxos have presented
the material in chronological order - Caruso, Gigli, Lehmann,
McCormack to mention a few. Here producer David Lennick has
chosen a thematic principle with in this volume Tarrega and
Ponce sharing the space and with a few odd numbers from other
composers.
Jean-Delphin Alard was a violinist, composer and professor at
the Paris Conservatoire where his best known pupil was Sarasate.
The Study in A, known as Estudio brillante, was written
for violin and arranged for guitar by Tarrega. It is often
believed that he is the composer. It is a fine piece and
it has something of Tarrega’s melodic sweetness. That Tarrega
was inspired by Chopin is easy to hear in the Mazurka
in G, which is also a fine example of Segovia’s
flexible playing: how he lingers lovingly on some phrases.
He also gives the well known Requerdos de la Alhambra an
inward reading. The tremolo playing is impeccable but it
is the lyrical expression and the ebb and flow of the music
that makes the greatest impression.
It seems that Albeniz’s Asturias could have been conceived
for the guitar from the beginning – it sounds so idiomatic
in this version. Aguirre’s and Malats’s pieces are also fine
and the playing of Malats’s Serenata española is again
so flexible.
The numbering of Ponce’s preludes is not according to the published
order of all 24 but Segovia’s own edition from 1930. The Thème
varié et Finale is an atmospheric piece while the sonata
is harsher than one associates with Ponce. Segovia appreciated
it explicitly and described it in a letter in 1927 as ‘quite
beautiful, and an important work for the guitar, the artist
and the musician’. The second movement is like a folk song
and the finale is technically demanding with some tremolo.
Oscar Esplá had studied composition with Saint-Saëns and became
professor at the Madrid Conservatoire in 1932. He composed operas,
ballets, choral works and a lot of instrumental pieces. Levantine
Impressions were written for the piano in 1931 and are
folk-like and melodious. I can’t imagine them, or anything
else on the disc, more idiomatically performed and guitarists
and music lovers in general should derive lots of pleasure
from this issue. A fourth volume is due for release before
long.
Göran Forsling
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