Charles Ramirez is a guitarist of rare skill. A preeminent performer in the generation of guitarists that followed Segovia, he has held the post of Professor of Guitar at the Royal College of Music since the age of 25, raising the profile of the instrument through his concerts and education activities since mid-1970s. This disc is the first in a new series of recordings featuring Charles Ramirez and sees him perform works by Joaquín Rodrigo with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe - the Concierto de Aranjuez and Fantasia para un gentilhombre - under conductor and founding member of the orchestra Douglas Boyd. The programme is completed with Rodrigo's enchanting solo-guitar piece Elogio de la guitara.

Friedemann Wuttke, the internationally recognised guitarist, joins forces here with his musical friends and companions. The result is an entertaining programme which not only shows the musical association of these friends, but also demonstrates how eras and nations are connected through music. A colourful collection of interesting, popular pieces has come into being. This ranges from the Renaissance to the 20th century; from Argentina to Spain. We thus arrive at a very exciting interplay between widely diverging styles and a great variety of musicians, in musical encounters that arose from two decades of international concert appearances. The guitar is joined by various contributors who are carried away by the lightness and charm that Friedemann Wuttke allows to prevail through his choice of pieces. In everything, the will of the guitarist to do justice to his instrument, to the composers, and also to the listener, is displayed in ways that are both entertaining and demanding.

This recording brings together two undisputed 20th century masterpieces and one from the 21st, all of which share surprising stories of neglect. With its sublime Adagio, Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez has become a true phenomenon in the history of Western music, but like the original version of Frank Martin’s extraordinarily powerful Guitare it suffered disapproval from its dedicatee Andrés Segovia. Echoes of Rodrigo can be heard in the cinematic romanticism of Leo Brouwer’s Concierto de Benicàssim, described by the composer as “a panorama of my own ideas” and revived here by Miguel Trápaga a decade after its première.

Joaquín Rodrigo, composer of the renowned Concierto de Aranjuez(Naxos 8.579053), is acknowledged as one of the great Spanish composers of the 20th century. His music extends the Romantic Impressionist tradition of Albéniz, Granados and Falla, and is inspired by the French style and color Rodrigo experienced during his studies in Paris. From the thrilling and virtuosic Elogio de la guitarra to his swan song in the Dos pequeñas fantasías, Rodrigos guitar music explores the Spanish nature of the instrument and blends tradition with innovation. Always filled with variety, contrast and compelling atmosphere, his oeuvre is now appreciated as one of the central pillars of the entire guitar repertoire. Since his concert debut at the age of six, Turkish American guitarist and composer Celil Refik Kaya has received many high accolades. He was the youngest contestant to win First Prize in the 2012 JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition, and is a prizewinner of international guitar competitions across Europe and the US. In 2017 he was named Rising Young Musician of the Year by the Donizetti Classical Music Awards in Istanbul and awarded a prestigious fellowship from Harvard Universitys Dumbarton Oaks. Kayas first recording, Jorge Morels Guitar Music was critically acclaimed by American Record Guide.

Signum’s first album with Mexican composer Rodrigo Ruiz combines the composer’s musical and literary passions in performances by world-class soloists Kerenza Peacock, Huw Watkins and Laura van der Heijden. Born in Tijuana, Mexico, Ruiz has attracted commissions from a number of artists, with both the opening Violin Sonata and ‘A riveder le stelle’ commissioned by Kerenza Peacock for this recording. The second work is a duo for violin and piano that is accompanied by poetic quotations from Canto XXXIV of Dante’s Inferno. The booklet notes include an interview with the composer by Jessica Duchen, who describes how the programme “clearly shows Rodrigo´s roots in the traditions of Beethoven and Brahms, but with individual twists that clearly indicate we are in fact on new territory”.

Inspired by Miles Davis’s legendary album Sketches of Spain, this project intend to conjure up Spain ‘as if through a prism - as a concept rather than a place’. Guitarist Jacob Kellermann and conductor Christian Karlsen worked with hyped young composers Francisco Coll and Pete Harden, who have each contributed a concertante work for guitar and ensemble. With Turia, Coll has returned to his roots – the dried-out river that once flowed through his (and Rodrigo’s) hometown Valencia. He has described it as his most ‘flamenco-colored’ work so far, intended to ‘evoke the light and the respective shadows’ of Spain. Turia is followed by two classics of Spanish music: Manuel de Falla’s Homenaje for solo guitar and Evocación by Isaac Albéniz, here in Karlsen’s atmospheric arrangement for ensemble. The last word on the disc goes to British composer Pete Harden. His affinity to jazz and non-classical tradition shine through Solace and Shimmer, which is based on the same chords that underpins Rodrigo’s Adagio. Kellermann enjoys strong support by the London Philharmonic Orchestra (in Concierto de Aranjuez) and the seven members of Norrbotten NEO.

REVIEW:

Kellerman has everything the Concierto de Aranjuez needs: excellent technical skills, singing tone, impulsiveness. His nail tone is relatively soft, not hard-edged; his timbral contrasts are heard more with vibrant fingertip tone. And the London Symphony has the horsepower as well as the fine soloists— especially the wonderful English horn in II—to make this a reading to remember.

– American Record Guide

Joaquin Rodrigo (1901 - 99) composed music for solo and piano duet throughout his long creative life. The earliest works on this collection of his complete music for piano dates from 1923 and the last from 1987.

Blind from birth, Rodrigo studied composition in Paris with Paul Dukas and became a pianist of considerable ability. Whilst his main contemporary Manuel de Falla delved deeply in to Spanish traditional music, Rodrigo created a kind of neo classical style imbued with a Spanish flavour, drawing heavily on 18th century musical styles and mannerisms. The more conservative style of his music compared with de Falla’s appealed greatly to the post civil war authorities of Franco’s Spain.

Many of the works for piano are short, and look back to the single movement sonatas of Scarlatti, and the keyboard music of Rameau, Couperin and Soler. However some of the works display considerable virtuosity such as Preludio al galo manañero which is a brilliant and highly effective composition.

The third of the CDs in this set features the composer and his wife, pianist Victoria Kamhi performing his music for four hands – it is a fascinating document and the listener can hear the composer adding personal touches to his music.

Other information:

- The first volume in an edition of Rodrigo’s music approved by the Rodrigo Foundation.

- Unusual repertoire that adds another dimension to the composer of one of the most famous concertos in the repertoire, the Concierto de Aranjuez for guitar and orchestra.

- Detailed booklet notes included.

- Fascinating historical recordings of the composer as pianist.

Track list:

Disk 1

·         1 Tres evocaciones: I. Tarde en el parque

·         2 Tres evocaciones: II. Noche junto al Guadalquivir

·         3 Tres evocaciones: III. Mañana en Triana

·         4 Danza de la amapola

·         5 Sonada de adiós

·         6 A l’ombre de Torre Bermeja

·         7 Preludio de añoranza

·         8 Suite para piano: I. Preludio

·         9 Suite para piano: II. Siciliana

·         10 Suite para piano: III. Bourrée

·         11 Suite para piano: IV. Minué

·         12 Suite para piano: V. Rigodón

·         13 Cancion y danza

·         14 Sonatas de Castilla con Toccata a modo de Pregón: I. Toccata a modo de pregón

·         15 Sonatas de Castilla con Toccata a modo de Pregón: II. Sonata

·         16 Sonatas de Castilla con Toccata a modo de Pregón: III. Sonata en fa sostenido menor

·         17 Sonatas de Castilla con Toccata a modo de Pregón: IV. Sonata en Re

·         18 Sonatas de Castilla con Toccata a modo de Pregón: V. Sonata como un tiento

·         19 Sonatas de Castilla con Toccata a modo de Pregón: VI. Sonata en La

·         20 El álbum de Cecilia: I. María de los Reyes (sevillanas)

·         21 El álbum de Cecilia: II. A la jota (jota de las palomas)

·         22 El álbum de Cecilia: III Canción del hada rubia

·         23 El álbum de Cecilia: IV. Canción del hada morena

·         24 El álbum de Cecilia: V. El negrito Pepo

·         25 El álbum de Cecilia: VI. Borriquillos a Belén

Disk 2

·         1 Serenata española

·         2 Cuatro estampas andaluzas: I. El vendedor de chanquetes

·         3 Cuatro estampas andaluzas: II. Crepúsculo sobre el Guadalquivir

·         4 Cuatro estampas andaluzas: III Seguidillas del diablo

·         5 Cuatro estampas andaluzas: IV. Barquitos de Cádiz

·         6 Cinco piezas del Siglo XVI: I. Diferencias sobre el Canto del Caballero (Antonio de Cabezón)

·         7 Cinco piezas del Siglo XVI: II. Pavana (Luys de Milán)

·         8 Cinco piezas del Siglo XVI: III. Pavana (Luys de Milán)

·         9 Cinco piezas del Siglo XVI: IV. Pavana (Enriquez de Valderrábano)

·         10 Cinco piezas del Siglo XVI: V. Fantasia que contrahaze la harpa a la manera de Ludovico (Alonso Mudarra)

·         11 Cuatro piezas para piano: I. Caleseras (Homenaje a Chueca)

·         12 Cuatro piezas para piano: II. Fandango del ventorrillo

·         13 Cuatro piezas para piano: III. Plegaria de la Infanta de Castilla

·         14 Cuatro piezas para piano: IV. Danza valenciana

·         15 Preludio al gallo mañanero

·         16 Zarabanda lejana

·         17 Bagatela

·         18 Air de ballet sur le nom d’une jeune fille

·         19 Deux berceuses: I. Berceuse de printemps

·         20 Deux berceuses: II. Berceuse d’automne

·         21 Tres danzas de España: I. Rústica

·         22 Tres danzas de España: II. Danza de las tres doncellas

·         23 Tres danzas de España: III. Serrana

·         24 Pastoral

Disk 3

·         1 Cinco piezas infantiles: I. Son chicos que pasan

·         2 Cinco piezas infantiles: II. Después de un cuento

·         3 Cinco piezas infantiles: III Mazurka

·         4 Cinco piezas infantiles: IV. Plegaria

·         5 Cinco piezas infantiles: V. Gritería final

·         6 Gran marcha de los subsecretarios for piano with 4 hands

·         7 Atardecer for piano with 4 hands

·         8 Juglares for piano with 4 hands

·         9 Sonatina para dos muñecas, for piano with 4 hands: I. Empieza el día

·         10 Sonatina para dos muñecas, for piano with 4 hands: II. Alegres peripecias

·         11 Sonatina para dos muñecas, for piano with 4 hands: III. Recogimiento

·         12 Sonatina para dos muñecas, for piano with 4 hands: IV. Vuelta del cole