Giuliani spent the better part of 13 years in Vienna, during which sojourn he devoted much time to pleasing the salon public both as a soloist and a chamber musician. The market demanded a continuous supply of novelty and Giuliani ensured that it was forthcoming; moreover, since amateur music-makers abounded, he kept them well supplied by seeing to it that his works were published—with plenty of didactic material to help the punters to play them. The products of his unsleeping muse included 22 works for guitar and violin or flute, some of which call for two players of comparable virtuosity; such are those in this recording. The Gran duetto concertante contains nothing that a flautist cannot play (it was published for violin or flute) but the Duo concertant does; the flute is not designated as an option. Swensen is more attentive than Galway to dynamic changes and Yamashita responds accordingly, also taking greater care to produce consistently good tone. In their BIS recording, Helasvuo and Savijoki choose brighter tempos in Op. 52 and are altogether more expressive, but Yamashita and Swensen bring warm sentiment to Op. 25, such as might have charmed the salonists of Giuliani's time. The Serenade is the shortest and perhaps the most durable of these three works, in which the opening Serenata and a delicious Scherzo give little hint of what lies in wait for the guitarist in the final Alla Polacca—virtuosic employment at last, and Yamashita revels in such challenges. It's all light-entertainment music, skilfully written for audiences that enjoyed being lightly entertained; if that appeals to you, I can recommend this well-recorded disc—with the sole reservation that the Gran duetto concertante might have been more sympathetically treated.

-- John Duarte, Gramophone [12/1992]