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.

PEOPLE. PLACES.' is the result of a personal process of professional rediscovery and artistic redefinition. I arrived in Europe in 2019 thinking of myself as a guitarist who composes, and life circumstances led me to see myself now as a composer who plays the guitar. I have been making music since I was four years old, and the guitar was the instrument that, during my teenage years, led me to decide to become a musician and through which I became a professional, an artist. Composing, on the other hand, better represents the meaning music has for me today: as an expressive and revolutionary tool, for change, transformation, and development. - Martin laies

Paul Smith had previously recorded two albums of my solo guitar music, so with more than enough new pieces ready, a third album seemed destined. He also kindly introduced me to Ekaterina Skliar, who has joined him for two works, playing mandolin and domra. This latter instrument comes from Russia. It has three strings tuned in fourths, and it's sound resembles both the balalaika and the mandolin. David Loeb

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.

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.

All the works on this CD share a constant feature: the musical "gesture," which is at the origin of each piece. This "gesture" may appear in several ways. It may be brief and concise, as in the opening of ".a riveder le stelle," or more complex and extensive, as in the beginning of "Mosaico." In all cases, however, the "gesture" creates a "figure" and a "situation" that sets off a process of transformation. As in a theatrical scene, even a short one, the instrument is like a character who acts through this or that "gesture," expressing speech through articulated transforming figures. Just like a monologue or, in other cases, like a dialogue. A guitar, a violin, a harp, or a cello are not just musical instruments. They are "characters" with their own personality and a story to tell. Furthermore, each piece is a story where several situations occur and memories from the past return. "Narration" is another basic element of my way of composing. It can take different routes, reaching different destinations. The last part of "Youth," written for harp, rediscovers the vague memory of a 70s song that I loved when I was a teenager. The end of ".a riveder le stelle" and "Mosaico" are concluding moments of a journey where many things had happened, and where now, looking back, we can understand the sense of them and the sense of the journey itself. At no point are the direction and the destination set at the beginning. They are "found" along the way, for what is important is the journey. Simone Fontanelli

The effervescent creativity of Franco Margola (already featured on the double CD Tactus TC 901390, Chamber Music · Concertos for Soloist and Orchestra) focuses in this recording on music for guitar, both as a solo instrument and in chamber music settings. Margola's approach to the guitar occurred in 1967. In an interview given to Maestro Domenico Lafasciano for the magazine Accademia della chitarra classica, the composer explained that his interest in this instrument matured thanks to his friend and colleague Renzo Cabassi (1908-1988). Initially, Margola was reluctant to compose for the guitar as he barely knew it's tuning, but eventually, the particularities of this fascinating and intimate instrument inspired him more and more, making it one of his favorites. The de Carli catalogue lists over 450 works for guitar, both solo and chamber ensemble, many of which remain unpublished and unknown. Mauro and Luciano Tortorelli - with the assistance of Ludovica del Bagno on violin - perform this first-ever recording of previously unpublished works by the brilliant composer from Brescia.

Two of the most distinctive voices in Dutch jazz join forces: harmonica virtuoso Hermine Deurloo and guitarist Anton Goudsmit. What begins as a playful exchange between lyricism and groove unfolds into a concert full of unexpected twists, inventive improvisations, and idiosyncratic compositions-plus recognizable covers. Rooted in Amsterdam's jazz scene, they combine melodic power with unpredictable energy. The warm, storytelling sound of Hermine's harmonica is the perfect counterpoint to Anton's unstoppable guitar playing: a creative whirlwind with irresistible groove, humor, and a unique musical signature. Together they take you on a ride filled with stories, rhythm, playfulness, and emotion-sometimes whisper-soft, then exuberant and explosive. Anton Goudsmit (guitar/compositions) enchants with inventiveness, infectious joy, and a groove that immediately draws the audience in. Hermine Deurloo is praised for her warm, lyrical tone and virtuosic, melodic storytelling style. She has performed with a wide range of artists-from Steve Gadd and Mike Bodde to the Metropole Orchestra-and refuses to be boxed into a single genre.

Composer and guitarist Marcus Klossek, long recognized as a distinctive voice on the Fender Telecaster, presents Blink 7, the latest chapter in a band whose sound has evolved steadily from his long-running Electric Trio. Rooted in clarity, dynamic contrast, and a deep sense of interaction, the project reflects more than fifteen years of close musical collaboration. At the core of the ensemble are Carsten Hein on bass and Derek Scherzer on drums, longtime partners with whom Klossek has refined a highly responsive and nuanced group language. With Blink 6, this foundation expanded into a sextet, joined by three prominent figures from Berlin's jazz scene: Nikolaus Neuser, Ignaz Dinne (tenor saxophone), and Anke Lucks. The enlarged group quickly developed a strong collective identity, equally at ease with precise structure and open improvisation. Blink 7 continues this collaboration and introduces a new and distinctive voice: Korean vocalist Chamin. Appearing on three tracks-Go Not, Another One Beyond, and Unexpected Return-she sings and partially speaks Korean lyrics written by herself. Her voice adds a new layer of texture and expression, expanding the ensemble's tonal range and interacting organically with the instrumental voices rather than standing apart from them. In contrast to Blink 6, which was composed before the musicians were chosen, all eight compositions on Blink 7 were written specifically for this lineup. Klossek shaped each piece around the individual strengths and musical personalities of the players. "I knew what everyone could bring to the music," he explains. "That allowed me to write more precisely for the sound of the band." The result is music that unites clear compositional intent with the intuitive understanding that comes from long-standing collaboration. The album opens with Violet Shift, a rhythmically intricate piece built from interlocking patterns that suggest mechanical precision while maintaining an organic flow. Go Not begins with Chamin's whispered voice, creating an atmosphere of quiet tension and ambiguity. Ephyra (Third Dance) unfolds with a restrained, melancholic beauty, while Half Past Never features one of Klossek's most unrestrained guitar solos-raw, spontaneous, and unpredictable. On Another One Beyond, Chamin's voice further broadens the ensemble's harmonic space, while Begin Again, Swift highlights the band's agility, moving fluidly between tightly woven rhythms and open, airy phrasing. Glass Bridges introduces otherworldly sounds from Carsten Hein, blending acoustic bass with electronic elements. The closing track, Unexpected Return, brings the album to an energetic conclusion, driven by rhythmic momentum as Chamin's voice merges seamlessly with the horn section. Blink 7 captures a band at a mature and confident stage, balancing detailed composition with freedom and collective improvisation-music shaped as much by individual voices as by the shared identity they have built together.

The dazzling Sardinian guitarist returns to the studios for a breathtaking compendium of variation sets, many of them never recorded before, by many of the most enduring names in guitar composition of the last century. Through the course of his long partnership with Brilliant Classics, Cristiano Porqueddu has attracted superlatives and enthusiasm from all corners of the critical press and listeners everywhere. There's no denying the ability of Cristiano Porqueddu,' wrote David Hurwitz in Classics Today, citing the guitarist's 'rich sound and dexterous handling of his instrument.' His colleague Jed Distler noted that Porqueddu's 'nuanced articulation allows him to sustain and spin out legato lines as if his fingers had bows.' Porqueddu's collection of 20th-century variation sets surveys a kaleidoscopic variety of styles and idioms, demonstrating in the process the guitarist's own breadth of vision as well as his virtuosic technique and insightful musicianship. He begins with a monster of the form: the 45-minute sequence of variations on a theme of Fernando Sor, by the US composer Mark Delpriora. Musician and listener are taken on an astonishing tour de force of invention, as Sor's melancholy tune becomes the raw text for vivid pastiches and parodies in the style of canon composers from Beethoven through to Schoenberg and Busoni. Characteristically, set the challenge to 'follow that', Porqueddu does just that, with a work of his own, which takes it's inspiration from Foucault's Pendulum. On the following discs, the withdrawn, lyrical chromaticism presents a compelling contrast with both the Russian romanticism of Boris Asafiev preceding him, and the implacable shadows of the Raighines by Ermanno Brignolo. This last work was composed for Porqueddu himself, while John Duarte's Variations on a Catalan Folksong were composed in 1956 at the suggestion of John Williams; and it is in this distinguished lineage that Porqueddu belongs. Some of the following works inspire wonder at their intricacy (both executive and compositional), such as the interwoven Variants on Two Themes of Bach by Reginald Smith-Brindle, while others major on charm, such as the first set of Mozartiana composed by Porqueddu's teacher, Angelo Gilardino. There's something for everyone.

Armenian piano virtuoso Tigran Hamasyan returns with Manifeste, out February 6, 2025-a powerful fusion of jazz, progressive rock, and Armenian folk. Recorded across five countries, the album blends rhythmic complexity, cinematic depth, and spiritual intensity, featuring longtime collaborators and the Yerevan State Chamber Choir. Manifeste is a bold declaration where the human, digital, and sacred unite in sound. Following The Bird of a Thousand Voices, Hamasyan continues his artistic exploration with Manifeste (2025)-a bold, multi-dimensional statement recorded between 2023 and 2025 across studios in Yerevan, Athens, Moscow, Los Angeles, and beyond. Entirely composed and produced by Hamasyan, Manifeste fuses his signature rhythmic complexity and spiritual depth with a more cinematic soundscape, where Armenian folk roots, progressive rock intensity, and choral mysticism intertwine. The album unfolds like a ritual sequence-from the meditative "Prelude for All Seekers" to the powerful "National Repentance Anthem. " Collaborators include longtime partners Marc Karapetian (bass) and drummers Arthur Hnatek, Arman Mnatsakanyan, Matt Garstka, and Nate Wood, alongside contributions from cellist Artyom Manukyan, trumpeter Daniel Melkonyan, guitarist Nick Llerandi, and the Yerevan State Chamber Choir conducted by Kristina Voskanyan. Each piece radiates Hamasyan's fascination with transcendence and transformation, whether through the fiery rhythmic drive of "Dardahan" and "Ultradance, " the haunting choral layers of "One Body, One Blood, " or the intimate dedications "Years Passing (For Akram)" and "A Window from One Heart to Another (For Rumi). " In Manifeste, Hamasyan brings together the human, digital, and sacred-a declaration of unity through sound, where modern technology meets ancient resonance. In addition to awards and critical acclaim, Hamasyan has built a dedicated following worldwide, as well as praise from Herbie Hancock, Brad Mehldau, and the late Chick Corea. "With startling combinations of jazz, minimalist, electronic, folk, and songwriterly elements. Hamasyan and his collaborators travel musical expanses marked with heavy grooves, ethereal voices, pristine piano playing and ancient melodies. You'll hear nothing else like this. " (NPR)

The guitar is an expressive harpsichord declared the composer Claude Debussy after a concert by the Catalan guitarist, Miguel Llobet. The classic guitar has benefited, more than most other instruments, from arrangements of music of many genres. Renaissance and Baroque music especially suit the timbre and range of the guitar and keyboard music is ideal for playing on the guitar, often direct from the original score. Debussy's comment may be unjust to harpsichordists, but the expressive limits of the guitar may be said to outweigh those of the harpsichord. Girolamo Frescobaldi was born in Ferrara, one of the most musically stimulating cities in Italy at the end of the 1500s. He was organist of St Peter's, Rome and is said to have also been a magnificent harpsichordist. His influence spread not just through Italy, but also north of the Alps. Gaetano Greco (also Grieco) was born and worked in Naples, notably as Maestro di cappella of the Basilica in Naples from 1704-1720. He was an influential figure, numbering Domenico Scarlatti and Nicola Porpora among his pupils. If we know the name Domenico Alberti nowadays it is probably only through the eponymous bass figuration heard in many classical and pre-classical keyboard pieces. The lively Giga, from his collection of Sonatas Op.1 gives way to a more elegant Allegro from a Sonata da camera. As well as being a composer and a pupil of Pasquini, Domenico Zipoli trained for the priesthood as a Jesuit. He emigrated to Paraguay, where he aimed to complete his training, but died before he could be ordained. With Bernardo Pasquini we bridge the gap between Frescobaldi and Domenico Scarlatti. Pasquini made a close study of Frescobaldi's work, especially his early Fantasie and employed some of these ideas in his variations. Moving forward 50 years from Pasquini, Benedetto Marcello proved to be a real polymath, with interests in politics, law and literature. He left behind a substantial number of sonatas, especially for cello and harpsichord. Like Marcello, Domenico Cimarosa's main musical output was vocal music, mainly operas, of which he wrote more than 80, admired by Mozart and performed by Haydn at Eszterhaza. Cimarosa's Sonatas are a refreshing leap into the early classical style, while acknowledging Domenico Scarlatti's influence. Domenico Scarlatti's keyboard output, 555 sonatas, dwarfs all the other composers on this recording. The similarity in range between the harpsichord and the guitar makes transcriptions relatively easy. Paradies was another composer whose music was valued by Mozart, as well as Clementi and Cramer, both keyboard virtuosi of the late 1700s and early 1800s. Played with great commitment and feeling for the style by Antonio de Innocentis, who also signs for the guitar arrangements.

This album is a collection of musical portraits - intimate sketches shaped by memory, place, and human connection. It reflects the soundscape of Alexander Ruess' upbringing near the Baltic Sea, the people who accompanied him along the way, and the impressions gathered through travel and encounter. At it's core, the music is deeply personal. Fur Opa is dedicated to Ruess' grandfather, who never played an instrument yet supported his musical journey unconditionally, driving him to countless lessons and proudly claiming responsibility for his grandson's talent. Sangen Fra Havet is an homage to the Baltic Sea and the Danish coastline, whose quiet vastness and shifting moods echo throughout the record. Cornflower draws inspiration from the vivid blue flower that grew at the edges of rural fields - a favorite of Ruess' maternal grandfather - symbolizing memory, landscape, and rootedness. The album balances composition and spontaneity. Interlude, the only fully improvised piece, captures the natural interplay between guitar, double bass, and drums, allowing the music's energy to unfold organically in the moment. Throughout the record, lyrical melodies meet open forms, creating space for both narrative clarity and collective expression. Recorded in Berlin with longtime collaborators Luca Curcio and Sebastian Merk, the trio's sound is defined by trust, subtle interaction, and shared musical intuition. A special highlight is the appearance of trombonist Nils Landgren on Fur Opa, whose music was a formative influence on Ruess' childhood and whose presence adds a distinctive warmth and depth to the album. Ultimately, this record is a dedication - to family, mentors, friends, and places that shape who we become. It is an expression of gratitude and belonging, rendered through sound

Francesco Palmieri has gathered in this album pieces that are special to him, with which he has sustained an intimate, lasting relationship - one might even say, of friendship. This is testified also by his fruitful collaboration with some of the composers presented here. The collection's title, Sans dire, taken from one of the works, evokes the familiarity that sometimes arises between friends; or, at times, between a performer and, through their instrument, a piece of music. As the composer himself notes: "Sans dire is a confidential, wordless conversation between intertwined souls, taking place around the body of the guitar - the instrument that, more than any other, reminds me of the tone of friendship and of those intimate connections that render words effective even when only hinted at." The program presents works for guitar or e-guitar, in some cases with added electronics. Composers include Luciano Berio (the famous Sequenzia), Salvatore Sciarrino, Marco Momi, Fausto Romitelli, and Pierluigi Billone. A fascinating journey through a sometimes hallucinating soundscape of unheard-of colours, timbres, and soundscapes. Francesco Palmieri (b. 1996) is a Berlin-based classical and electric guitarist whose work intertwines with contemporary music. He has performed at major festivals and concert halls, including Festival d'Automne, ManiFeste, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Ruhrtriennale, Wittener Tage für Neue Kammermusik, Darmstädter Ferienkurse, Staatsoper Berlin, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Bregenzer Festspiele, ZeitRäume Basel, Musikfestival Bern, Festival di Nuova Consonanza, and Milano Musica.

This project is the result of musical research carried out in various fields. It includes original works for harp and violin in a variety of compositional styles. The choice of different historical periods aims to focus on pieces that are rarely performed or, in the case of contemporary pieces, world premieres. The sonorities used, ranging from the 1800s to the present day, aim to highlight the technical, instrumental and musical potential of the Duo Vieuxtemps. The final objective of our work is to be able to take the listener on a musical journey, a sonic trip that offers a kaleidoscope of sensations, shapes and colours, with the intent of halting the perception of the passing of time and letting oneself be carried away by the sound.

The album Intrecci New compositions and arrangements for Guitar, produced with the support of the MiC Ministry of Culture and SIAE as part of the 'Per Chi Crea' program, presents a singular listening itinerary that sees Giacomo Susani's two souls as an interpreter and composer dialogue in an original way. The program unfolds in four pairs of songs: four original compositions, accompanied by four repertoire arrangements created by Susani himself. "Mine was not an operation of transcription as faithful as possible to the originals - says Giacomo Susani - but I decided to move in an arrangement dimension functional to the narrative arc of the CD and therefore aimed at enhancing the intrinsically identifying qualities of the guitar." The first pair of songs that opens the album sees two works brought together and characterized by a fundamental contrapuntal architecture: a very short Fuga by G.F. Handel, taken from Voluntary X for organ, and the original piece Dialogo (homage to Lauro), born from a commission received by Pixaudio for an upcoming documentary on Antonio Lauro. With a change of interior landscape, we move on to Caprice 4 for solo violin by Pierre Rode, a composer and famous French violinist who lived between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, associated with the piece that gives the album it's title: Intrecci (homage to Paganini) by Susani, a work commissioned by the Paganini Guitar Festival 2024 and which pays homage to Paganini by developing a dialogue between the two gestural worlds, that of the violin and that of the guitar, both loved by the Genoese composer. The third pair of pieces leads into the more abstract dimension of melancholy and meditation, with the very famous June by P.I. Tchaikovsky for piano in the version for guitar created by Giacomo Susani and the original piece by Susani Gems dreaming which the author considers his most abstract work among those on the album. The listening ends with an arrangement of Moon River by Henry Mancini and an original piece in three movements inspired by three paintings by the British author Frederic Leighton. An album that develops in an eclectic meeting of sound worlds and artistic illuminations, where the classical repertoire is singularly intertwined with contemporary expression.

This recording is a thematic and cultural journey through the figure of François de Fossa, a nineteenth-century military musician and guitarist who distilled multiple influences through his nature as both traveller and innovator. The selection of works highlights not only the guitar's virtuosic possibilities, but also it's remarkable ability to act as a bridge between cultures and musical styles. Viennese Classicism: Through his transcriptions of Haydn and his admiration for Beethoven, de Fossa brought the guitar into dialogue with one of Europe's most refined and universal musical idioms. The Iberian Connection: His travels in Spain and his military career exposed him to Iberian melodic and rhythmic patterns that weave their way throughout his music.

Landmark works of Baroque chamber music given a 21st-century twist. The extent to which George Frederic Handel's flute sonatas 'belong' on the flute is an open question. Some sonatas were composed with the violin in mind, and then arranged by Handel's London publisher, John Walsh, ever alert to a commercial opportunity. Others were probably conceived for recorder and basso continuo, and then transposed for the different register of the flute. Most of them were written around the 1720s, but some date from rather earlier, so far as we can tell. Even more than his contemporaries such as Bach, Handel was an assiduous reuser and recycler of his own material, and thus the notion of early and late style in this music, and an evolution between them, becomes somewhat moot. Not entirely, however, for there is a discernible movement away from Italian and towards French models of rhetoric in the sonatas, just as the oratorios develop an increased richness of harmony and economy of gesture during the decades of Handel's English period. To accompany this new recording, the flautist Lorenzo d'Antò has supplied invaluable chapter and verse for each sonata in his booklet essay. He also brings them alive in his partnership with the guitarist Michele Di Filippo, with the aim of rediscovering 'these antique masterpieces, and observing them from a new and modern perspective.' Thus the basso continuo lines, usually encountered on a harpsichord or combination of cello, lute and keyboard, have been mapped on to the guitar. This is a practice with many honourable precedents, dating back to Handel's own time. Lorenzo d'Antò graduated from the conservatoire in Rome in 2017. While at a relatively early stage in his career, he is already principal flute of the orchestra of the Arena di Verona. He has also performed as a concerto soloist and recitalist in festivals and venues across Italy and Switzerland. He is partnered here by Michele di Filippo, a guitarist born in 1994 who is also active as a composer.

The guitar output of a landmark figure in Argentinean classical music, fusing national melodies and dances with European forms in a fusion of perennial appeal. Carlos Guastavino (1912-2000) became internationally renowned, after the Second World War, for song-cycles and works for his own instrument, the piano, which refracted his Argentinean identity, and the culture of his home nation, through European classical idioms. Without plugging himself in to the current of modernism which coursed through the work of American contemporaries, from Copland and Carter in the US to Chavez and Revueltas in Mexico, and down to Brazilian composers such as Claudio Santoro, Guastavino nonetheless belonged to their age, and spoke of his time through his music. Composed between 1967 and 1973, his three sonatas for the guitar embody sonata form in both the progress of their individual movements and their larger, three-movement structures. The First Sonata is dedicated to his brother, Jose Amadeo, who played the guitar as an amateur, and inspired Carlos to write for the instrument. Jose Amadeo died by his own hand while Carlos was at work on the sonata, and it's central movement is an elegy to his memory. The Second, more Romantic in tone, deploys native rhythms such as the Zampa as well as jazzy harmonies. The Third returns to the Zampa but in a more intricately worked style. Here, the central movement is a smoky Milonga, evoking a mood more familiar from the tangos of Astor Piazzolla. Leonardo Palacios sets the sonatas in their context with transcriptions of five short pieces originally conceived for piano: Apegado a mi, Vidala del Secadal, Santa Fe para llorar, the seventh of Guastavino's Cantos Populares and finally the Bailecito (Little Dance) which established his fame worldwide. As a Uruguayan guitarist with decades of experience as a performer and teacher, Palacios brings both technical refinement and idiomatic sensitivity to Guastavino's music: he also contributes the booklet note to this album, giving the listener an invaluable sense of the composer's place in his world.