Andrés Segovia: 1927 - 1939 Recordings, Volume 1

Johann Sebastian Bach (Composer), Manuel Ponce (Composer), Fernando Sor (Composer), Robert de Visee (Composer), Johann Jacob Froberger (Composer), Federico Moreno Torroba (Composer), Felix [1] Mendelssohn (Composer), Joaquin Malats (Composer), Francisco Tarrega (Composer), Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (Composer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach, Manuel Ponce, Fernando Sor, Robert de Visee, Johann Jacob Froberger, et al.
• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: EMI Classics
• ASIN: B000002S02
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #176,322 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Partita No. 3 For Violin In E Major: Gavotte En Rondeau

2. Courante

3. Prelude In G Major

4. Prelude In C Minor

5. Allemande

6. Sonato No. 1 For Violin: Fugue In G Minor

7. Suite In A Major: Prelude: Alemande

8. Suite In A Major: Gavotte

9. Suite In A Major: Sarabande

10. Suite In A Major: Gigue

11. Theme Varie, Op. 9

12. Sarabande

13. Bourree

14. Menuet

15. Gigue

16. Sonata in A Major: Allegretto

17. String Quartet No. 1 In E Flat Major, Op. 12: Canzonetta

18. Serenata

19. Recuerdos de la Alhambra

20. Etude In A Major

See all 21 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

No Description Available.
Genre: Classical Music
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 19-DEC-1991

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Who is Segovia you say?, September 19, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Andrés Segovia: 1927 - 1939 Recordings, Volume 1 (Audio CD)

Segovia is by far the greatist virtuoso guitar player that has ever lived, and in these recordings you can tell why. Whether you play the guitar or not, Segovia will make you want to. The sound of the guitar itself is truly amazing, and his style evokes a clarity and sweet sharpness unlike the harshness of so many other Spanish guitarists. All this is combined with some of Bach's greatest music. If you like classical music, any of Segovias titles are certainly worth a good look at. You'll miss a lot if you pass this up. Don't belive me? Than give me an e.mail- I'll track you down and kill you. Just kidding. I'd probably only steal your CD collection. Just buy this CD, you will like it. Don't trust me? Than read all those other reviews.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The greatest guitarist who ever lived in early form, April 24, 2004

By 

"moreoreos" (Rancho Santa Margarita, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Andrés Segovia: 1927 - 1939 Recordings, Volume 1 (Audio CD)

Folks, most of these recordings are from before my mother was born (and she was "born a long long time ago" -Beatles) and the sound quality is not equal to what my spoiled ears are used to. But I assure you, these are recordings of the finest classical guitar music ever performed. I've heard many of the late Segovia's recordings, earlier and later in his life, the latter are more mature and crystal clear, measured and beautifully precise. It is however, the roughness and raw power of genious that is captured here, like the birth of a supernova, here is where Segovia's dubbing "the poet of the classical guitar" truely explains itself. But who doesn't know about the greatest maestro this world will ever know? What CD would you keep with you if it was the last one and only one you could ever own?

9 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This album will please only serious classical guitar enthusiasts, July 10, 2005

By 

skepticdude "it's only in cartoons that thing... (Bellevue, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Andrés Segovia: 1927 - 1939 Recordings, Volume 1 (Audio CD)

Most people who like hearing classical guitar, but who do not play or are rank amateurs, prefer a classical guitar album where the guitar sounds like it could be playing in the room. Technology since the 60's has made that possible for the classical guitar.

However, while this album is a treat to serious classical guitarists because it hallmarks the early days of the legend Segovia, the sound quality, although amaziningly clean sounding, won't satisy the average person.

That being said, the obvious highlight of the album is the fact that it represents how Segovia interpreted the popular guitar pieces back in his early days, before age and experience taught him to prioritize feeling and soul above playing everything at 100 miles per hour.

If I heard this without already knowing who was playing, I would hazard a guess that it must be some young guy who certainly has the chops to blast through the hard stuff real fast, but who is still so low on maturity that he doesn't "feel" the song or let it "flow" from his guitar. Audiences will always applaud fast scales executed swiftly and with precision, as Segovia once said, but I would add this: Their applause is always more enthusiastic when you make the song sing TO the people (la la la la laaaaaa), not AT the people (datdatdatdatdatdat).

Serious guitarists will love this album for allowing them to see how that Segovia's awesome ability already existed in 1927, before most of their parents were even born.

Although the audio quality is not the best, being from 1927-1939, it is nevertheless suprisingly clean, given how most music recorded in that period sounds.

A note to guitarists: You won't be able to play along with this CD even if you are as good as Segovia: his guitar is tuned much higher than normal. I don't know if it was a result of the original records he recorded on having defects, or if Segovia just liked the feel of super-tight strings as he played (as do I).

All in all, this is super-great stuff for guitarists who love Segovia and wish to delve into those early days and see what the legend was like while he was in the making.

But for non-guitarists looking for quality sound and for songs to be played with feeling instead of being played at the speed of light, I'd suggest passing on this one and picking up "Spanish Guitar Favorites" by world-renowned classical guitarist John Williams. The sound on that album is superb, and so is the playing.

Better sound can be heard on "The Seville Concert".

And if you are serious audiophile and wish to have the absolute best modern clarity for a classical guitar album, nothing comes close to John Williams other album "From the Jungles of Paraguay: John Williams plays the music of Augustine Barrios".

That CD represents the best of modern technology to make a classical guitarist sound like he is actually sitting in your living room and playing in front of you. This album is also hated by most serious classical guitarists precisely because it is so utterly clean sounding, whereas, earlier recordings, not using 20-bit technology, thus have a "warmer" sound.

Note to the serious guitarists: If you listen carefully, you can hear the clicks, pops, and white noise that inevitably comes from a record, on each song. Segovia obviously recorded directly to a record while it's grooves were being cut, because they didn't have tapes back then. That extra bit of noise preserves the original authentic sound of the recording. They didn't have perfectly clean digital sound back in those days, and therefore I think the digital remastering technicians who do the work of transposing records onto cd's, have a duty to keep some of the authentic originally intended sound to preserve it's true historical place.

It doesn't get the full 5 stars, because Segovia's youth here caused him to play most of the pieces at lightning speed, and no seasoned guitarist will agree that playing everything at the speed of light is a 5 star record. 5 star ratings are for guitar albums which manage to make their guitar sing TO the audience, not AT the audience.

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