Customer Reviews

O Boto

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Although not as widely known a name as other classical guitarists before the concert public today, Carlos Barbosa-Lima is a superlative musician, easily the equal to the finest guitar and lute masters of now and the past. This CD is a renewed mastering and release of a CD made in 1997, a recital so varied and compelling that it a gift that it is once again available.

Spanning three centuries of both works for solo guitar and works for guitar and orchestra, Barbosa-Lima conceived a mixture of works that would be a richly woven tapestry of works from Europe through the Caribbean, the Amazon, and the Hawaiian Islands. The choices he makes are sure and stunning and quite unlike any other recording of the guitar repertoire we are likely to encounter.

The 'recital' opens with Barbosa-Lima's transcription of Handel's Concerto for Harp and orchestra in A major: in Barbosa-Lima's hands it sounds as if this were the preferred instrument for the Handel work. The orchestra (Sofia Soloists) is conducted with sensitive élan by Plamen Djurov. Next comes a solo work by Emilio Pujol from 1928, brief but virtuosic. Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco's 'Capriccio Diabolico' for guitar and orchestra allows our soloist to explore a work by a famous composer that has been neglected until now. Included in the recital are two other works for solo guitar (by Enric Madriguera ever popular 'Adios' and by Ernesto Cordero, and including Cordero's 1983 'Concerto Antillano' for guitar and orchestra), Byron Yasui's 'Piccola Arietta No. 2 and Antonio Carlos Jobim's 'O Boto' (the title song for the recital) also for guitar and orchestra. It is a wide spectrum of styles and Barbosa-Lima is equally at home in each.

Though most devotees of the guitar will be well familiar with this master from Brazil, whether in the veins of jazz, classical or Latin American music, for this listener this important CD is a fine introduction to a truly gifted musician and humanitarian. Recommended for all lovers of fine music! Grady Harp, August 07

Barbosa-Lima was at his best in the '80s when he recorded many all solo guitar recordings. I'm disappointed that since he left the Concord label he hasn't recorded a single all solo CD. His Zoho recordings, which attempt to please everyone, don't please purists such as myself who long for the Barbosa-Lima of 25 years ago. Get this if you don't mind lots of what many of us solo artists consider to be filler.