Customer Reviews

The Segovia Collection, Volume 9: The Romantic Guitar

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

 

 

Every classical Guitarist today owes a debt of gratitiude to Andres Segovia. He was not only an amazingly unique talent but an innovator as well. When he rediscovered the guitar it was a forgotten instrument that shared little respect from the musical community. He literally invented the technique that all classical guitarists use today. In addition he sought out and compiled thousands of lost pieces for the instrument. He also made many transcriptions of pieces written for other instruments such as the piano and translated them brilliantly into the language of the guitar. Out of the entire Segovia collection, this CD is my personal favorite for the diversity and choice of material. The waltzes are charming. My favorite cuts are Canzonetta and Song Without Words OP 19.no 6, both but Felix Mendelssohn. If you only buy one CD out of this collection it should be this one.

While Segovia's forte is Spanish music and his mastery of the Bach sonatas and partitas which were transcribed from the violin to the guitar, I keep finding myself listening to this CD on an almost daily basis. As a classical guitarist myself, hearing pieces like Grieg's piano works and Mendlesohns' string quartets played to perfection on his 1947 Herman Hauser II with such strength, clarity and authority makes me realize this man understood more about the music that went onto this one CD than most "musicians" past and present could ever hope to understand in a lifetime. His guitar sings like a human voice and when he plays it truly sounds like a choral ensemble being played through one instrument. Sweet!

Segovia truly shows his expressive genius on this album. Many of these pieces were written for the piano but arranged for the the guitar by Segovia. These titles express much of what is moving about the romantic period in classical music and Segovia captures this in his masterful way. This is a must have for Segovia fans. If not for some noisy recordings, I would have given this album 5 stars.

This is one of the best guitar collection I have ever purchased. A must have for the purist.