Customer Reviews

Miguel Llobet: Guitar Music

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I have found this CD at the Naxos website catalogue.I was just looking around the CD's and the word LLOBET got my attention because it was hard to find a complete collection of the composer.I was lucky that it caught my attention!
Let's come to the inside of it.It has all kind of music forms composed by llobet such as;Catalan Folksongs,Preludes,Folksongs,Etudes,Mazurkas,Romanzas and even Variations which I liked most.They have really been arranged nicely and the Llobet himself composed beautifuly(they say Llobet opened a new period for the guitar music at the early 1900's; they are right.)
You can't find most of the pieces on other CD's they are really "rare" pieces and the affordible price makes the CD even more nice.
Most of the tracks are short about 1 or 2 minutes but the total playing time is OK that means there's a lot of track in it(41 tracks).
What about the guitarist.Lorenzo Micheli.I know much guitarist but I have heard Micheli with this CD.It's good to be me that I heard Micheli.He plays the guitar with his soul,so sweet guitar really.And also the technique is one of the factors that makes this CD amazing because without a good technique you can't hand over most of the tracks such as Repuesta.
It is certain that this music gives us a joy and "also" I didn't know Llobet composed such great works I means the listener gets informed about it.
1)GOOD COLLECTION
2)PRICE
3)GOOD GUITAR PLAYING
4)EXCITING AND ORIGINAL WORKS FOR GUITAR
...they are the reasons you should buy this CD.

I had come across L. Micheli almost accidentally by watching one of the Guitar Foundation of America videos when I was amazed by the breathtaking performance of the Variaciones sobre un tema de Sor! This CD is worth every penny. I would also recommend the M Castelnuovo Tedesco one as well. Very expressive, accurate, clean performance - I had the feeling I am watching Glenn Gould playing guitar.

While the Catalan folksongs are well known and often recorded, there are very few recordings that delve into the remaining rich guitar repertoire of Llobet, who is arguably one of the guitar's most important historical performers and composers. This recording covers those original works, in a cross section from 1896 to 1935. All works are played to perfection and verve. Lorenzo Micheli is clearly a world-class guitarist who does justice to these fine pieces. Highly recommended.

I have heard few CD's that rival this one for simple, sheer charm. Llobet, certainly not a very familiar composer, has succeeded in giving us some surprisingly inventive and melodic music. An older contemporary of Andreas Segovia, Llobet deserves a lot of credit for the publicity the Classical guitar has received today. But he hasn't received nearly as much attention as he deserves. This CD, which includes all of his solo guitar music, will hopefully help to change some of that. Ranging from the delightfully simple "Catalan Folksongs" to the complex "Impromptu", Llobet takes advantage of the many merits of the guitar.

Highly recommended. I have come to greatly appreciate this album and I give it a special place in my always growing collection.