Post
by David Norton » Sat Aug 17, 2013 8:39 pm
I am surprised no one has commented on this new double-CD release yet.
David Jaggs, Simon Cartwright, and team have simply outdone themselves with this new effort. The theme is unabashedly a Segovia tribute album, but done at a supremely high level. I've now listened to both discs several times, and would seriously nominate the album for "Best Solo Classical Instrumental Recording" for this year. Disc 1 contains pieces written for Segovia, including Tansman's In Modo Polonico, Duarte's English Suite, Ponce's Sonata Mexicana, and Torroba's Suite Castellana. Single-movement works by Haug, Tedesco, and Rodrigo intersperse the larger compositions. 68:40 recording time.
Disc 2 is a set of Segovia transcriptions (well, OK, also ones made by Tarrega, Llobet, & Lorimer). These include works from Purcell, Rameau, Bach, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Greig, Albeniz, and several others. Nothing by Granados, which I thought a mite odd, but one can't squeeze everything into just under 66 minutes of CD time, and it really is not "missed".
Mills plays these works on a 2012 Ramirez 1a, intentionally commemorating 100 years since Segovia got his Manuel Ramirez guitar. There's a very detailed 24-page booklet which comes with the album, all packaged in a DVD size case rather than the traditional jewel case size.
A Google search for "Segovia the Ramirez years" will point you to the source for purchase.
David Norton
Salt Lake City, UT
First person to complete the Delcamp "Let's Learn Sor's Opus 60" project