Franz Schubert's 'Die schone Mullerin' receives a deeply personal and strikingly intimate new interpretation in this recording by tenor Markus Miesenberger and guitarist Christian Haimel. Based on Wilhelm Muller's timeless poems, the cycle follows the emotional journey of a young miller's apprentice consumed by love, longing, jealousy and despair. Rather than presenting another traditional version of this beloved masterpiece, the artists return to the sound world of Schubert's Vienna through the use of a gut-strung Biedermeier guitar, revealing the songs with extraordinary transparency, fragility and emotional immediacy. In this setting, the famous cycle becomes what Miesenberger calls 'an authentic reflection of the soul of a broken man,' where voice and guitar move together with breathtaking lightness between hope and heartbreak. An essential part of this album's unique atmosphere is the remarkable recording environment itself: in sound engineer and producer Bert van der Wolf's celebrated High Street Studio in Heerewaarden, the Netherlands. Housed in a church renowned for it's natural acoustics, profound silence and immersive sound quality, the studio offered the perfect space to 'open new spaces' within Schubert's music. Combined with Van der Wolf's visionary engineering and the warmth of historical instrumentation, the recording creates a vivid new sonic perspective - intimate yet modern, pure yet expansive - allowing listeners to experience 'Die schone Mullerin' with a sense of immediacy and emotional depth rarely heard before.
Most guitar recitals emphasise the vigorous Spanish and Latin American heritage of the instrument. This album takes a different approach, travelling round the fringes of Europe, with music from Albania, Estonia, France, Serbia, Greece and the British Isles, these largely lyrical works chosen because they were inspired by issues and events that underline the dignity of the human condition. They allude to a surprisingly wide range of subjects: peace-time reconciliation, love and loss, ethnic identity, personal courage, environmental degradation and bittersweet recollections of childhood - in music for calm reflection.
Hans Werner Henze: Royal Winter Music - Stefano Grondona (gu
Stradivarius
CD
$24.99Aug 07, 2026
Hans Werner Henze. Royal Winter Music. Two Sonatas on Shakespearean Characters marks an important stage in Stefano Grondona's recording career: after years of sustained engagement with it and public performances (roughly from 1982 to 1995), the musician returns to confront this pivotal work of twentieth-century guitar repertoire. At the same time, in the manner and outcomes of this traversal, the record bears witness to an oblique and little-trodden modality of approaching compositions that, like this one, embody peculiarities and contradictions of the more cultured guitar repertoire. The physiognomy of this work, as Marek Orszulik argued (Aspects of the Historical Development of Repertoire for the Guitar. A Case Study of Hans Werner Henze's Royal Winter Music, Sonatas on Shakespearean Characters, University of Alberta, 2016), reconciles the sonata, understood as a genre of large-scale form and monumental architecture, with the Character Piece, a rhapsodic, dramatic, and psychological composition. In the introductions to the printed editions published by Schott, Henze makes clear that, through the Royal Winter Music cycle, he intended to engage with a series of key characters from Shakespearean theatre (to whom the different movements of the sonatas are dedicated), who appear and disappear through the guitar's sonic textures.
TYRANNIDE was conceived from the desire to explore the theme of cante jondo as a universal expressive archetype, not confined to the Spanish tradition but deeply rooted in human nature. It's primordial character - often expressed through the insistence of the semitone and microtonal inflections - becomes a symbol of the human condition, forced to confront suffering, death, and their inexorable musical reflection. A tyranny, indeed: that of a lament that does not belong to a single people or era, but which runs through the history of music, re-emerging in the form of appoggiaturas, suspended tensions, and melodic lines filled with longing. Cante jondo, originally connected with Andalusian flamenco, thus becomes, in the programme of this recording, a universal musical principle, capable of manifesting itself even in languages far removed from the Spanish tradition. The programme includes two works never previously recorded: Cantar de mio Cid by the French composer Jean-Dominique Krynen and the Concerto Trois Graphiques by Maurice Ohana in it's original arrangement for guitar and piano. Around these two central works unfolds a musical journey that places cante jondo in dialogue with different historical and stylistic contexts, revealing it's surprising expressive continuity.
Franco Margola (1908-1992) occupies a distinctive place in twentieth-century Italian music as a composer who combined modern clarity with a deep respect for classical balance and lyric expression. Born in Brescia, Margola was trained within the Italian conservatory tradition and soon developed a style often associated with neoclassicism: transparent textures, well-defined forms, and an elegant restraint that avoided both romantic excess and radical avant-garde experimentation. Throughout his career he wrote extensively for chamber ensembles, voice, and solo instruments, consistently favoring intimate musical dialogue and refined craftsmanship. Among his most important contributions to the guitar repertoire are the five Sonatas for guitar, composed over several decades. These works reflect Margola's close engagement with the instrument's idiomatic possibilities while maintaining a strong structural rigor. Rather than treating the guitar merely as a vehicle for virtuosic display, Margola emphasizes musical architecture, motivic development, and subtle harmonic color. Each sonata presents a different perspective on form and expression, yet all share a characteristic clarity of line and balance between melody and accompaniment. Stylistically, the guitar sonatas draw on classical models-especially the sonata principle and dance-like movements-while incorporating twentieth-century harmonic language, including modal inflections and gently dissonant sonorities. Rhythmic vitality and contrapuntal writing are frequent features, demanding both technical control and musical sensitivity from the performer. At the same time, Margola's lyrical impulse remains central: slow movements often unfold in long, singing phrases that highlight the guitar's natural warmth and expressive resonance. Played by Valerio Celentano, who graduated in classical guitar with honors from the Conservatory of Music "Giuseppe Martucci" in Salerno under the guidance of Antonio Grande. He has participated in several masterclasses with famous guitarists such as Alirio Díaz, Pavel Steidl, David Russell, Jyrki Myllärinen, Mario Gangi, and Carlo Marchione. He studied for several years with Oscar Ghiglia and Frédéric Zigante. He won prizes in many international music competitions. For Brilliant Classics, he recorded guitar works by Georges Migot.
This album presents a selection of chamber works that offers a compelling cross-section of the composer's musical imagination, as well as the fluency with which he moves across a richly varied stylistic landscape. The outstanding performers respond with complete assurance to the intentions of one of the most frequently performed composers of his generation. Adrian Robak explores unconventional instrumental combinations and a wide spectrum of sonorities, while remaining in meaningful dialogue with the aesthetic currents of earlier decades. His music impresses and moves through the sincerity of it's expression-an artistic voice that has earned him growing recognition on concert stages in Poland and abroad.
Guitarist Daniel Lippel releases a new version of Steve Reich’s iconic Electric Counterpoint. In collaboration with South African born ethnomusicologist Martin Scherzinger, Lippel approached the piece through the lens of its roots in Central Africa, specifically the traditional music of the Banda-Linda tribe, from which Reich borrowed material for the canonic theme of the opening movement. Guitarist Daniel Lippel, called an “exciting soloist” (New York Times), “precise and sensitive” (Boston Globe) has carved out a unique and diverse career that ranges through solo and chamber music performances, innovative commissioning and recording projects, and performances in diverse contexts. He has premiered more than fifty new solo and chamber works, many written for him, recording several on the independent label he co-founded and directs, New Focus Recordings. Lippel has been a member of the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) since 2006 and Flexible Music since 2003 and has been a guest with many other ensembles including the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, New York New Music Ensemble, New York City Opera, Either/Or Ensemble, Dinosaur Annex, and counter)induction.
Gilardino: Complete Music For Solo Guitar 1965-2013
Brilliant Classics
CD
$100.99Sep 25, 2015
Italian composer and guitarist Angelo Gilardino has been at the forefront of contemporary classical guitar music for over 40 years. His legacy is fittingly recognized by Cristiano Porqueddu, himself already firmly established as one of Italy's leading guitarists, who pays tribute to the composer with this integral release of Gilardino's works. Recorded in chronological order, starting with compositions from the mid 1960s and ending with works written just a few years ago, Porqueddu delves in to the astonishing variety of music Gilardino has produced. From the 'dreamy' works of his early period - including Estrellas para Estarellas, Abreuana and Trepidazione per Thebit - a more formal style began to take hold from the 1980s, with the composer writing his first series of 12 studies (Studi di virtuosità e di trascendenza) in 1981. He followed up this success by adding another 48 to the collection, and since the 2000s the 60 Studies have become a central part of Gilardino's oeuvre, having entered the concert programs of several prominent guitarists. Constantly striving to create a new type of dialogue between the guitar and accompanying instruments, Gilardino composed his first concerto for guitar and orchestra in 1996, sealing his reputation as an accomplished orchestral composer with an additional 16 concertos thereafter. During the 2000s, Gilardino returned to writing for the solo guitar, skillfully bridging the divide between atonal chromatic and diatonic modal music. Gilardino's compositions are inspired by music from all areas and epochs; from Mozart, Ravel and Messiaen to Scottish folk tunes and the beauty of the Mediterranean, there are few elements that are not represented in some shape or form in the composer's works. Porqueddu studied under Gilardino at the 'Lorenzo Perosi' Academy in Biella, and under the composer's guidance his compositions have won him international plaudits in his own right. Angelo Gilardino is one of the most important guitar composers of the last half century. His unique style is a blend of the old and new, folk art and contemporary music, from Mozart to Messiaen, all his works are illuminated by a warm and Mediterranean glow, a feeling of humanity and love for life. Included are all the works he wrote for guitar solo & guitar and orchestra. Included are his famous 60 Trancendental Studies. The set includes many world premieres. No better advocate and interpreter could be wished than guitarist Cristiano Porqueddu, a lifelong pupil and friend of the composer, sharing the same musical passions. Recorded in Nuoro, Italy, in 2012-15. Includes world premiere recordings. Contains extensive notes written by the composer especially for this release.
Giuliani: Complete Original Works For Flute & Guitar / Helasvuo, Savijoki
BIS
CD
$39.99Oct 29, 2013
This lighthearted music is given wings by the flutist Mikael Helasvuo and guitarist Jukka Savijoki, both from Finland, in performances that were praised at the time of the original release – as three single discs – in for instance Classical Guitar, whose reviewer wrote, “Helasvuo and Savijoki achieve an ensemble that at times reaches near perfection … this is what good chamber music playing is all about.”
Michalis Kontaxakis, First Prize Winner in the 2005 International Francisco T'rrega Guitar Competition, is considered today to be one of the leading young Greek guitarists. He studied the guitar with Vassilis Mastorakis and Costas Cotsiolis.
Cordero: Caribbean Concertos for Guitar & Violin / Romero, Figueroa, Solisti Di Zagreb
Naxos
CD
$19.99Dec 13, 2011
Puerto Rican composer and guitarist Ernesto Cordero dedicated his Concierto Festivo to celebrated soloist Pepe Romero, who describes the work as having ‘divine inspiration’. These works derive their warmth of expression and rhythmic influence from the composer’s native Caribbean island, and the two violin concertos ĺnsula and Concerto Tropical both contain descriptive elements from landscape and nature. ĺnsula is dedicated to renowned violinist and conductor Guillermo Figueroa, and I Solisti di Zagreb are recognised as one of the world’s leading chamber orchestras.
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Exemplary performances by everyone make these concerti shine all the brighter…the recordings are good. They project a modest soundstage with the soloists well placed and balanced in a reverberant acoustic that will appeal to those liking wetter sonics. The guitar is beautifully captured, while the string sound is generally pleasant…
The guitar concerto – written for and here played by its dedicatee, Pepe Romero - is exciting and draws on the harsh rhythmic bark of violent strumming. There are moments when one is aware of Cordero’s debt to Rodrigo but it is by no means immanent. The writing, across all three works, puts me in mind of Piazzolla’s Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas but also of Schnittke’s super-romantic steely hyper-baroque writing. Casting a benign light across these concertos is a presence I had not expected: that of Vaughan Williams. More than occasionally RVW’s characteristic pastoral pentatonic sound comes to mind. It’s a foundation or an overlay rather than a facsimile of The Lark Ascending. Even so the two works for violin and orchestra are rather reminiscent of The Lark but perceived through the intensifying lens of late-twentieth century angst. The orchestration is delicate and the ideas often tender. However, when the music becomes animated the style moves towards the stony despair and the metallic exuberance of the Shostakovich violin concertos. The useful liner-notes are by the composer.
Brilliant young guitarist Vladimir Gorbach, first-prize winner of the Guitar Foundation of America’s International Concert Artist Competition in 2011, has constructed a programme to showcase the variety and versatility of his instrument. Piazzolla’s Estaciones porteñas are richly evocative seasonal portraits vested with his indelible sense of verve. Scarlatti’s inexhaustible sonatas are increasingly popular in guitar transcription, the four here showing his originality and dexterity, whilst Giuliani’s Rondoletto is full of dazzling escapades for the guitar. Vicente Asencio’s Collectici íntim is drenched in vibrant Spanish colours and rhythms.
This survey of 20th c. sonatas written for solo guitar, featuring a whopping thirteen world premiere recordings, marks yet another original project from the spirited and adventurous Italian guitarist Cristiano Porqueddu, “a point of reference for the new generation of guitarists”, bringing together a wide range of guitar sonatas by Baev, Biberian, Cavallone, Manén, Migot, Gilardino, Rózsa and Porqueddu himself. It is a journey through wildly differing styles, from Impressionism to Expressionism, from the simple to the complex, from the folkloristic and descriptive to absolute music. Mr. Porqueddu, a prolific Brilliant Classics recording artist, wrote the set’s extensive liner notes, which feature work-by-work descriptions and annotations.
