Customer Reviews

Concerto De Aranjuez

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I thought I had loved Aranjuez before I heard this performance. Now I know it was merely a romance with its melodic content. This one performance truly opened to me the meaning of this music. And now all others appear bleak and weak; too refined, too assiduous to reveal what lies beneath the tablature. Just close your eyes and listen carefully how Paco plays solo passages in the glorious Adagio, especially the one before the last orchestral piece. At times his guitar will resemble arabian oud: dark and brooding, then it will suddenly turn to festive, untamed flamenco emotions; what a deep insight into the essence of Spanish music! You don't hear Rodrigo, Paco, Adagio, Guitar or Orchestra here - you're one on one with pure legacy of one of the richest and complex European cultures packed into music with lossless compression.

THIS is the spirit of Aranjuez, finally.

I grew up listening to the version of Aranjuez played by John Williams as it was one of my father's favourite pieces of music and became one of my own. I thought Williams version was stunning but now having listened to Aranjuez played by Paco de Lucia, Paco brings something extra to the music, an Andalucian understanding, a flamenco spirit, and such incredible technique, lightening fast fingers that melt into a blur.

All in all, the spirit in which the music is played, in comparison makes Williams superb interpretation appear dull and robotic. This is surely how Rodrigo intended his concerto to be played.

Paco de Lucia is an absolute genius and is to my mind without equal as the world's best guitarist. If you've never heard of Paco de Lucia before, you could do a lot worse than begin your discovery with this album.

Like most classical lovers, I had a decent recording (that got a Penguin rosette) of this concerto and had heard it numerous times on radio. Somehow I never felt this concerto has been played to its full potential. When I hear Paco de Lucia, I am glad someone finally did it full justice. In Flamenco, in jazz or in classical, Paco de Lucia's musicianship always touches heart and souls. I am not surprised that the composer himself calls this the greatest performance of the concerto, and I can't think of why any classical guitar lover wouldn't want to own this CD.

I bought this CD by reading review in this area and I'm glad I did to say the least!.
This is the 3rd version of Concerto de Aranjuez that I have - the other two are by John William and David Russel respectively. The J.W. is a bit better D.R. - but this version by Paco de Lucia is the best in my opinion. The rythm of his guitar blends in very well with the orchestra - the sound of his guitar is so gentle/smooth and yet it doesnt hide some subtle notes. My musical vocabulary is very hopeless so i cannot describe what i felt in musical terms - it doesn't really does the CD any justice sorry :)...if you're fan of Aranjuez - Grab this CD now!.

I've heard a number of versions of this Rodrigo piece. Paco plays it with the most fire, and it's apparent that Joaquin Rodrigo also enjoyed it. It's also important to know that most classical players take sometimes up to a year to prepare this piece for performance. Paco, who doesn't read music, prepared it in two weeks. Amazing.

(...) Now that I've heard virtually the entire CD, I can say that it's OK. Paco's playing of the Aranjuez Adagio falls a bit short of John Williams' performance with the Seville Orchestra. On the other hand, Paco's performance of both the Allegro con Spirito and the Allegro Gentile are most enjoyable, with the bright, rhythmic, and percussive flamenco sound working really well for the two allegro movements. The tempo of those two movements is also a little faster than most other performances; this really adds to the excitement. Furthermore, the accompanying performance by The Orquesta de Cadaques is very energetic. I found the rest of the CD's compositions (Triana, El Albaicin, and El Puerto) much less enthralling but decent enough. After all, Rodrigo's Aranjuez is really a tough act to follow. Summing up, I give the two allegro movements of Aranjuez a five-star rating and the rest of the CD a three-star rating.

This is the greatest Aranjuez performance. Concerto de Aranjuez is a very difficult to play as its written. Paco plays the concerto very rithmical. Many people says Paco plays adagio not enough melodiously, but I know even adagio contains too much rithmical and technical troubles and Paco plays it as its written. I don't now more accurately perfomances. Many musicains have a very good sound like John Williams or Segovia but I think the concerto is primary spanish based music because Rodrigo is spanish composer and I think the form, rithm and expression is more important than classical sound for this case. Really Paco is one of the greatest musician of our time and he has own point of view.

This is a beautiful, seamless performance. According to the Wikipedia article about Paco, Juaquin Rodrigo has called this the single most brilliant performance of his Concierto. Do check this out.

This CD is more than Rodrigo's Concerto. Most reviewers ignored the Albeniz, but before I get to those tracks, I will say that the Concerto de Aranjuez is a live recording and that spark does manifest. Narciso Yepes, Julian Bream, and John Williams are better classical guitarists than Paco de Lucia, but in this recording the partner orchestra has a superior performance than others. Morever, de Lucia's third movement is more sensitive than his guitar colleagues. On the negative side, this is an old recording and the sound engineering is very good but not up to the standards of today. The guitar, a quiet instrument, merges with the orchestra. The concerto for guitar seems more concerto for symphony orchestra and guitar. Together, however, this version, indeed interpetation, as the label notes, is very fine but not outstanding. As for the 3-guitar version of three excerpts from Iberia by Isaac Albeniz, I find them entirely wrong in musical concept. Listen to Alicia de Larroucha perform the suite as it should be, on piano. The guitars are tinny and the musical punch is lost. The piano is orchestral in its range and we truly hear the melodies and feel the emotions of each section. Thus, given a choice, I would choose another album with Rodrigo's concerto.

Chances are if you are reading this review you have already made up your mind on buying the album, i will keep this review short. I agree with all the previous 5 star review but i will add only one thing which no one has mentioned yet, did you know Paco de Lucia couldn't read the music notes? An article stated, "De Lucía claimed in Paco de Lucia-Light and Shade: A Portrait, that he gave greater emphasis to rhythmical accuracy in his interpretation of the Concierto at the expense of the perfect tone preferred by classical guitarists. Joaquín Rodrigo later declared that no one had ever played his composition in such a brilliant manner."

I rest my case. Feast your ears on sheer genius of de lucia and rodrigo.