The Essential Giuliani, Vol. 1 [Box set]

Mauro Giuliani (Composer), Monica Huggett (Conductor, Performer), Portland Baroque Orchestra (Orchestra), Richard Savino (Performer), Jennifer Ellis (Performer), William Skeen (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Monica Huggett, Richard Savino, Jennifer Ellis, William Skeen
• Orchestra: Portland Baroque Orchestra
• Conductor: Monica Huggett
• Composer: Mauro Giuliani
• Audio CD (August 22, 2006)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Koch Int'L Classics
• ASIN: B000E8NRGM
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #80,140 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Grand Duo Concertante, op. 85: Allegro maestoso

2. Grand Duo Concertante, op. 85: Andante

3. Grand Duo Concertante, op. 85: Scherzo; trio

4. Grand Duo Concertante, op. 85: Allegretto espressivo

5. Sonatine Op. 71, No. 3: Andantino Sostenuto

6. Sonatine Op. 71, No. 3: Tempi di Marcia; Trio

7. Sonatine Op. 71, No. 3: Scherzo con moto; Trio

8. Sonatine Op. 71, No. 3: Finale, Allegro

9. Six Ariette on poems by Metastsio, Op. 95: Ombre amene

10. Six Ariette on poems by Metastsio, Op. 95: Fra tutte le pene

See all 19 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Grand Overture, Op. 61: Andante Sostenuto; Allegro Maestoso

2. Grand Overture, Op. 61: Adagio

3. Grand Overture, Op. 61: Scherzo allegro assai; trio

4. Grand Overture, Op. 61: Alla Polacca

5. Six Variations on La Folia (solo guitar) Op.45: Tema

6. Six Variations on La Folia (solo guitar) Op.45: I

7. Six Variations on La Folia (solo guitar) Op.45: II

8. Six Variations on La Folia (solo guitar) Op.45: III

9. Six Variations on La Folia (solo guitar) Op.45: IV

10. Six Variations on La Folia (solo guitar) Op.45: V

See all 21 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gracious, July 25, 2008

By 

David Saemann - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Essential Giuliani, Vol. 1 (Audio CD)

Richard Savino first made his name recording Boccherini's Quintets on a period instrument. It is not a long stretch from Boccherini to Giuliani, and the results here are just as winning. The Guitar Concerto, from an earlier release, is a real eye opener. Monica Huggett conducts a period instrument ensemble, with some wonderful wind playing. Savino plays the solo part with no audio highlighting, and it's a marvel to hear how he comes through the orchestration. Other highlights of the set are the Duo and the Variations with Huggett on violin. Huggett plays marvelously, with an unusually rich tone for a period instrument and a degree of expressiveness I've never heard from her before. The Trio goes very well, too, even if the two string instruments tend to drown out Savino from time to time. The solo works sound effortless and charming. The recordings, from three different venues, sound excellent, although there is some echo on a few of them. This set provides very good value if you want to explore this byway of the guitar repertoire.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars OK I guess. Likewarm., November 30, 2009

By 

Ghost(Ghost(M)) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Essential Giuliani, Vol. 1 (Audio CD)

A few years back, my friends and me, we had an idea of starting to play together again, some sort of chamber music, which, me playing the guitar, had to be something with the guitar, though not duos 'cause no one else plays the guitar; in fact the assemblage was quite absurd (many moons ago we were a rock band + a few "fellow travellers"). Predicament! Where there's a will there's a way though: thus I got me a bunch of guitar + something else records to see what we might adopt for the repertoir. This is one of the records I bought then. Well, so what can I say... no problem with performance, top notch as expected; music itself is nice, no question, but you know... grazioso, yes, but Giuliani is no Mozart. Finally, as is typical for non-solo guitar music, there's no dynamic balance: I don't know whether this orchestra uses "period" instruments or not, but they drown out the guitar, even despite their obvious attempts to play uber-pianissimo to the point of sound instability (especially noticeable in solo violin). No use: next to guitar everything sounds like a brass band -- even the flute, picking up after a guitar solo, sounds like a saxophone, deep and "chesty" sort of thing. Bottomline: I bought this record for a purpose (and it was good for that), but were it considered purely for musical enjoyment, I'd say, I'm not sure, three stars maybe -- the classical guitar is a weird instrument that's fine played solo, but in ensemble with anything bigger than a recorder it gets extirpated and sounds like an intermittently surfacing indistinct borborygmus deep inside the belly of the orchestral whale. Can't they mike it up a bit? What good is "purity" if you can't hear anything?