Sergio & Odair Assad Play Rameau, Scarlatti, Couperin, Bach

Domenico Scarlatti (Composer), Jean-Philippe Rameau (Composer), Francois Couperin (Composer), Johann Sebastian Bach (Composer), Sergio Assad (Performer), Odair Assad (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Sergio Assad, Odair Assad
• Composer: Domenico Scarlatti, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Francois Couperin, Johann Sebastian Bach
• Audio CD (May 18, 1993)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Nonesuch
• ASIN: B000005J1N
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #113,830 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Sonata for keyboard in C major, K. 251 (L. 305): Arr for guitar

2. Pičces de clavecin avec une méthode sur la mécanique des doigts, for harpsichord: Allemande, arr for guitar

3. Pičces de clavecin avec une méthode sur la mécanique des doigts, for harpsichord: Gigues 1& 02, arr for guitar

4. Pičces de clavecin avec une méthode sur la mécanique des doigts, for harpsichord: Rigaudon, arr for guitar

5. Pičces de clavecin avec une méthode sur la mécanique des doigts, for harpsichord: Musette en Rondeau, arr for guitar

6. Pičces de clavecin avec une méthode sur la mécanique des doigts, for harpsichord: Le Rappel des Oiseaux, arr for guitar

7. Pičces de clavecin avec une méthode sur la mécanique des doigts, for harpsichord: Le Lardon, arr for guitar

8. Pičces de clavecin avec une méthode sur la mécanique des doigts, for harpsichord: La Follette, arr for guitar

9. Pičces de clavecin avec une méthode sur la mécanique des doigts, for harpsichord: Les tendres Plaintes, arr for guitar

10. Pičces de clavecin avec une méthode sur la mécanique des doigts, for harpsichord: Les Cyclopes, arr for guitar

11. Second livre des pičces de clavecin, for harpsichord: 9th Order, No 8, Le Bavolet-Flotant, arr for guitar

12. Troisičme livre des pičces de clavecin, for harpsichord: 14th Order, No 7, Le Carillon de Cythčre, arr for guitar

13. Prelude and Fugue, for keyboard No. 3 in C sharp major (WTC I/3), BWV 848 (BC L82): Arr for guitar

14. Sonata for keyboard in E major, K. 162 (L. 21): Arr for guitar

15. Sonata for keyboard in F minor, K. 466 (L. 118): Arr for guitar

16. Sonata for keyboard in E major, K. 531 (L. 430): Arr for guitar

17. Sonata for keyboard in A minor, K. 54 (L. 241): Arr for guitar

18. Sonata for keyboard in D minor, K. 9 (L. 413), 'Pastorale': Arr for guitar

19. Sonata for keyboard in G major, K. 432 (L. 288): Arr for guitar

20. Sonata for keyboard in D major, K. 96 (L. 465) 'La caccia': Arr for guitar

See all 22 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Assad Brothers have an astounding sense of ensemble., November 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Sergio & Odair Assad Play Rameau, Scarlatti, Couperin, Bach (Audio CD)

I am in awe of the accuracy and facility the Assad's display in this recording! If not for the fact that it would be impossible for a solo guitar performer to execute these pieces with the level of virtuosity the Assad Brothers do, the precision of rubato passages might lead me to believe that it is, in fact, one guitarist. This recording does not share the problem of being too quiet with a lot of other classical guitar recordings. It is sufficiently loud. This recording definitely belongs in the collection of every lover of classical guitar performance and/or Baroque music.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the most incredible duo to perform on the guitar, December 24, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Sergio & Odair Assad Play Rameau, Scarlatti, Couperin, Bach (Audio CD)

This album is indescribably incredible!Sonically,technically,and creatively flawless. One cnnot help but fall in love with the music and the performances in this collection.All of the music, which was originally written for the keyboard has now found a new life on the guitar. After hearing the perfomances one would never be able to imagine it being performed in any other venue but on the guitar and by these two virtuosi. Everything is clean, fluent, exciting and inspiring. The performances would make the composers weep with tears of joy. The Bach is beautiful, the Rameau brings to life the images the composer envisioned when writing his music; and the Scarlatti is down right scarey. They have made the impossible task of taking these keyboard masterpieces and transcribing them for the guitar possible and without detracting from the original. The brothers Sergio and Odair Assad are virtuosi of the highest order. To hear them perform is to be taken into a whole new world. They rank with greatest of the guitarists of our time. They are precise, dynamic, and yes, daring. They sound and perform as one,they become a part of the music,and they bring you along for their sonic journey.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vibrant and inventive, October 6, 2005

By 

FrKurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Sergio & Odair Assad Play Rameau, Scarlatti, Couperin, Bach (Audio CD)

This is a wonderful recording of classical guitar. One of the interesting (and perhaps ironic) bits is that all of the compositions on this CD were originally done for harpsichord, such as Bach's well known compositions for the Well-Tempered Clavier. The composers here - Domenico Scarlatti, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Francios Couperin, and Johann Sebastian Bach - are all masters of the keyboard composition, here adapated by the Assad brothers, Sergio and Odair.

From their official biography, 'As children, the Assads' mandolinist father guided their discovery of Brazilian music. Their uncanny ability to play guitar together soon evidenced itself, and seven years of study with the classical guitarist and lutenist Monina Tavora (a disciple and former pupil of Andrés Segovia) followed. The Assads' American career began in 1969, under the "Youth for Understanding" aegis. A major prize at the "Rostrom of Young Interpreters" in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, launched their European career. They also achieved victory in the 1973 Brazilian Symphonic Orchestra competition for young soloists. They have performed in recital and with orchestra throughout France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Poland, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Australia, Great Britain, the Far East, Argentina, and their native Brazil.'

Their sensitivity to string instrument is well founded, and when they turned their attention to compositions for the keyboard, they found that with two guitars, there was a richness that is missing from the more simple 'monochromatic' performance of the keyboard.

As Sarah Cahill states in her introduction to this CD, there is a reason why these pieces sound natural being played on the guitar - harpsichord strings are plucked in similar ways to guitar strings, unlike piano strings which are struck by hammers. Scarlatti wrote for the Queen of Spain, among others. Couperin served in the French court, composing music for lute in addition to harpsichord. Rameau, an organist and composer, also comes from the French school, and J.S. Bach needs no introduction as the pinnacle of composing power in Germany of the eighteenth century.

Sergio and Odair Assad have spent a good deal of time developing a Baroque manner to playing these pieces on their guitars, as to be more faithful to the types of compositions. This CD is a true pleasure to behold, the textures and energy of the music being very vibrant and inventive in many ways.