During the Fifties Andres Segovia strengthened his fame as the best classical guitarist in the world with a series of wonderful recordings containing the most significant parts of his repertoire. Segovia’s 19th century music repertoire was focused almost exclusively on the Spanish composers, composers the he liked best. He did not often consider Italian composers. Among the Spanish composers Fernando Sor (Barcellona, 1778 – Paris, 1839) had been his favorite; he was a talented composer and performer who wrote Studies for Guitar which featured a great melodic originality that is even now still used in the education of classical guitarists. This album collects, for the first time, all the recordings that Segovia made of Sor works during the 1950s, which were the best moments of his musical career .

A survey of early 20th century classical guitar artists from South America. Most are first time releases since they were first issued on 78 rpm. Featured artists include Andres Segovia, Nelly Ezcaray, Maria Luisa Anido, Agustin Barrios, Julio Martinez Oyanguren, Lalyta Almiron, Abel Carlevaro, Miguel Llobet, Maria Angelica Funes, and Ramon Ayestaran: guitars.

CD with color book & posters

Segovia and His Contemporaries Volume 16 - The Guitar in Spain, Part 4: 1928-1955: This�disc highlights the classical guitar in orchestral, chamber, and duet settings. It opens with the live broadcast of the Castelnuovo-Tedesco Concerto No. 1, made on August 17, 1955 by Segovia at the Lucerne Festival. Chamber music is represented by two 1932 recordings made by Luise Walker, Miguel Llobet's student, of works by Carl Maria von Weber and Luigi Boccherini; and of particular interest are 1928 recordings by the world-renowned�Cuarteto Aguilar, �comprised of four lauds (types of Spanish lute), of works by Joaquin Turina and Renaissance composers Gabriel Mena and William Croft. The Guitar in Duo appears in rare performances by four pairings: the Canarian musicians Victor Doreste and Ignacio Rodriguez (1930), who perform�Capricho Arabe, �Sevilla�and a�Folias Canarias;�the Argentinean duo of Antonio Sinopoli and his daughter Nelida (1932), who play a milonga and vidalita penned by the father; the Mallorcan Bartolome Calatayud, a student of Tarrega, and the Catalan Graciano Tarrago (1936), who assay a�popular Mallorcan dance�So de pastera�and Joan Maria Thomas'�Festa de Sant Antoni; and lastly another Argentinean duo, Consuelo Mallo Lopez and Maria Herminia Antola (1937), who conclude with�Mozart's 'Minueto de la Sinfonia No. 39' and Galluzzo's�Romanza No. 2.

The classical guitarist is normally imagined as a solitary figure performing on stage. We think of Andres Segovia appearing as a soloist for over 80 years.. But guitarists have not only been soloists. As a teenager, Segovia himself was a member of a "pulso y pua" ensemble of lauds and bandurrias, the Quinteto Albeniz, and he commissioned concertos and chamber works from contemporary composers. Volume 15 of Segovia and His Contemporaries presents the live 1939 world premiere of the maestro performing Castelnuovo-Tedesco's Concerto in D. This historic broadcast is buttressed by rare recordings of the Trio Albeniz, Angel Barrios' Cuarteto Iberia, German Lago's Orquesta Ibérica de Madrid, and Francisco Collado's' Orquesta Guitarristica.

an outstanding production for the interest of the music, and for the superb quality of both playing and recording. Manuel Ponce's concerto for Segovia has symphonic leanings... and southerly leanings, extending to authentic native tunes and sultry guitar rhythms. The combination is fascinating... Rodrigo's Fantasia benefits from the tone-colour of the guitar, enhanced further by this particularly good recording... Segovia ensures for posterity... his superlative playing (Gramophone)

(Guitar) "Yepes' cadenza is as clean and bright as a new pin, and his rapid repeated-note finish is fantastic." "I am coming to regard the Fantasia para un gentilhombre with it's gracious nobility and baroque feeling as a masterpiece to match the more famous Concierto de Aranjuez." (Harp): "Zabaleta plays most beautifully and the recording is immaculate." (Gramophone)