Music of Moreno Torroba

Federico Moreno Torroba (Composer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Composer: Federico Moreno Torroba
• Audio CD (November 12, 1996)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Telarc
• ASIN: B000003D2D
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #47,571 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #89 in Music > Classical > Instruments > Strings > Guitar

Track Listings

1. I. Allegretto

2. II. Andante

3. III. Allegro

4. Burgalesa

5. I. Fandanguillo

6. II. Arada

7. III. Danza

8. Madranos

9. I. Alcazar De Segovia

10. II. Alba De Tormes

11. III. Montemayor

12. IV. Zafra

13. V. Manzanares Del Real

14. VI. Siguenza

15. VII. Siminacas

16. VIII. Turegano

17. IX. Torija

18. X. Calatrava

19. XI. Redaba

20. XII. Alcaniz

See all 28 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good recording overall, a few issues, November 6, 2006

By 

Sor_Fingers (Boulder, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Music of Moreno Torroba (Audio CD)

Probably one of the best things about this recording is that its a great collection of most of Torroba's great solo guitar music. Russell hits all the important pieces and plays them all with flair and accuracy. Russell's playing is very expressive and he tends to capture the esssence of the music. The playing is clean, beautiful and precise. Good tone, dynamic contrast, all the basics that guitar students spend years perfecting. However, Russell does play a little too heavy sometimes. I like to think that if Torroba were playing electric guitar today he would sound a lot like Pat Metheny with a little Spanish flavor. His music should never be too bombastic or heavy. Not to say that Russell never lightens up, but he doesn't always back off when he needs to. Some of the slower, more lyrical Castles of Spain especially aren't as effective as they could be. The other issue about this recording is that the track listing is WRONG! It should go like this:

Sonatina for Guitar in A Major

Burgalesa

Suite Castellana

Castles of Spain

Madronos (Not "Madranos")

Nocturno

Aires de la Mancha

Because of this glich in the track listing, all of the Castles of Spain tracks are off by one track as they are listed on the CD liner. It isn't even correct on David Russell's website.

The only other thing that I don't like about this CD is that some of the notes are a little weird. I know that there were differences between Torroba's original manuscript and Segovia's editions of the pieces, but some of the notes are either wrong or different from anything I've ever played from (and from what I remember that Segovia originally recorded). It's only a very minor detail as there may be some note decisions where Russell decided to preserve some original notations by Torroba, and I am always in favor of preserving the composer's original intentions over Segovia's rewrites if possible. It's not overly important, it's merely just a yellow flag to the guitarists out there saying that your edition may be slightly different from what Russell plays.

This is a great recording providing interesting contrast to Segovia's original Torroba recordings. While Segovia is the original "performance practice" version of these pieces, Russell's interpretations are for the most part very good. I would recommend listening to Segovia's recordings of Torroba as you would be cheating yourself to only listen to this recording.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best collections of Torroba, June 26, 2007

By 

Bjorkfinity (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Music of Moreno Torroba (Audio CD)

I think this recording is very relaxed for the most part. He kind of breezes through these with speed and doesn't take enough time on some pieces but David Russell is the cleanest guitar player around and these recordings are flawless. He lets you hear every note. Burgalesa is an amazingly beautiful, melancholy piece which Sevogia loved. Montemayor is haunting and tremelo is exquisite. Alba de Tormes is a popular and beautiful piece which sounds great. Fandango is probably the most popular piece here which overwhelmingly captures the Spanish feeling and which Segovia recorded extremely well (probably the most famous recording of Fandango) on his "Favorite Spanish Encore" LP and Russell sounds great in this piece, too. I'd rather listen to Russell play these than Yepes, Segovia or the Romeros.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a little gem, March 19, 2000

By 

Jane Austen "Austen lover" (U.K.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Music of Moreno Torroba (Audio CD)

Moreno Torroba is maybe one of the best composers for guitar, unfortunately little known. David Russel brings to life some magnificent pieces with his wonderful tone and phrasing. Impeccable production and sound as well. An absolute must for guitar lovers and a good beginning for those who are not.