# Classical Guitar



## starthrower

Recently my interest in classical guitar has been renewed. I only have a handful of recordings, so I'd be interested in some of your favorite guitarists and their recordings. Also your favorite music for the guitar. So far I really enjoy the music of Isaac Albeniz that has been arranged for guitar. And Barrios as well. I love guitarists Julian Bream, John Williams, and Sharon Isbin, but I haven't listened to many others except Eliot Fisk. He is technically brilliant, but doesn't move me as much as someone like Julian Bream.


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## Kjetil Heggelund

This is my speciality  Since you like Albeniz, try Trio Campanella with Iberia (on naxos). Actually naxos has a great guitar catalogue. Some of my guitarheros are: Pablo Marquez, Zoran Dukic, Marcin Dylla, Ricardo Gallén. Mr. Marquez is a bit hard to find recordings of but Mr. Dylla is on youtube and Dukic & Gallén on naxos. If you like modern stuff I have made a long list of pieces I believe are wonderful (and bought the score to most).


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## Guest

^ Good suggestions, and you might also look into Kazuhito Yamashita, Pablo Sainz Villegas, Paul Galbraith, David Russell, and Jorge Caballero.


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## Kjetil Heggelund

AJAJ! I didn't mention my biggest hero David Russell...been driving all day, something is wrong with me and good night


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## senza sordino

I'm glad to hear others here have an interest in classical guitar. There is more I would liked to explore. I don't have many CDs featuring the guitar. 
How can you go wrong with the Concierto de Aranjeuz? My recording is with John Williams.
I have three of his CDs, a Spanish guitar music compilation and a two cd greatest hits. 

I also really like Villa Lobos for guitar, his concerto and preludes are fantastic. My cd is with Narciso Yepes. The 12 studies are good, but they sound like studies, not a lot of variation within each, just technical stuff.

I also have a cd of Julian Bream playing popular classics of Spanish Guitar.

I own a cd that includes the first guitar concerto of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. I haven't listened to this in a while. I will make a point to listen soon. 

I also own a cd of Vivaldi concertos for lute and mandolin, lots of fun.

Also in my collection, which isn't really classical but I love it is Claude Bolling Concerto for classical guitar and jazz piano trio - Angel Romero and George Shearing- doesn't get much better than that. 

I also really like John Renbourn who often plays a lot of Ye Olde English traditional tunes. He plays the music in a distinct folk music way. Very good, but not classical.

There is so much more to explore. More concertos, chamber music. It would be great to put together a list of 50 to 100 pieces that should be more well known to the general classical music world.


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## starthrower

Thanks! I'll give some of these a listen.


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## Pugg

Please, do not forget ;* Miloš Karadaglić
*

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/a/-/3903/Milo%C5%A1-Karadagli%C4%87


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## jegreenwood

Nobody's mentioned Segovia?? Also Goren Sollscher.

Any interest in the lute?

Edit - one more personal favor: "Parkening plays Bach" - my musical equivalent of comfort food.  Although the CD version spoils the experience. The LP had only the first 10 tracks of the CD.


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## Pugg

jegreenwood said:


> Nobody's mentioned Segovia?? Also Goren Sollscher.
> 
> Any interest in the lute?
> 
> Edit - one more personal favor: "Parkening plays Bach" - my musical equivalent of comfort food.  Although the CD version spoils the experience. The LP had only the first 10 tracks of the CD.


Parkening and Kathleen Battle / The pleasure of their company is also very wonderful!


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## jegreenwood

Pugg said:


> Parkening and Kathleen Battle / The pleasure of their company is also very wonderful!


An excellent album.


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## starthrower

I think my next CD is going to be John Williams Barrios album. I'm mainly interested in solo guitar, or multiple guitars. Los Angeles Guitar Quartet plays a lot of interesting stuff.


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## jegreenwood

starthrower said:


> I think my next CD is going to be John Williams Barrios album. I'm mainly interested in solo guitar, or multiple guitars. Los Angeles Guitar Quartet plays a lot of interesting stuff.


You seem to be primarily interested in Spanish/Latin guitar music. Any feeling about Baroque music on the guitar? To be honest, I have more of that (including lute music) than of Latin music. A lot of this is in transcription. In addition to the inevitable Bach, I find that Scarlatti translates rather well. Narciso Yepes's disc is a long time favorite.

As for multiple guitars, among others, I have albums by the Romeros, Presti & Lagoya, the Assad brothers and the Brazilian Guitar Quartet. Julian Bream and John Williams released several duet albums. And of course Pat Metheny overdubbing 10 guitars on Steve Reich's Electric Counterpoint. 

Also - does anyone else share my sense that from an audiophile sense, the CD had done especially well with guitar music. I have very few guitar (or lute) albums that sound less than good, and some that are astonishing.


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## starthrower

I have baroque guitar CDs by Bream, and Eliot Fisk. I like the Bream which is solo, but I don't care for the Fisk. I don't want to hear chamber orchestras and harpsichords with classical guitar.


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## seven four

Debussy for ten stringed guitar

https://harmonicsdb.wordpress.com/2013/08/31/anders-miolin-claude-debussy/


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## Judith

I like Craig Ogden but my mind can't seem to associate guitar with classical music even though it is part of it!!


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## jegreenwood

starthrower said:


> I have baroque guitar CDs by Bream, and Eliot Fisk. I like the Bream which is solo, but I don't care for the Fisk. I don't want to hear chamber orchestras and harpsichords with classical guitar.


Lots of choices for one or more guitars only. I have Baroque music (albeit transcriptions) for one or more by Goren Sollscher, Narciso Yepes, Paul Galbraith, Kazuhito Yamashita, Christopher Parkening, the Assad brothers, Presti & Lagoya, Gray and Pearl, the Katona Twins and the English Guitar Quartet. (And Eliot Fisk.) Plus just as many - maybe more - recordings for lute.

Edit - and David Russell


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## jegreenwood

seven four said:


> Debussy for ten stringed guitar
> 
> https://harmonicsdb.wordpress.com/2013/08/31/anders-miolin-claude-debussy/


Looks interesting. I have this. Chopin's Nocturnes on guitar. I found the complaints about the sound on Amazon curious, as I first heard of this album when a Stereophile reviewer mentioned it as one of his test records.


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## Barbebleu

Anything at all by Segovia, John Williams, Julian Bream, Narciso Yepes, Konrad Ragossnig would give you the basis for a good collection. Also Bream's lute albums are worth exploring. I find Williams precise and clinical on occasion and Bream more warm and rounded but both are giants and I'd be splitting hairs if I picked one over the other. Yepes has a great set called Five Centuries of the Spanish Guitar still available I think and he is wonderful too. And Segovia is just genius. Ragossnig is great in the early and modern repertoires. You pays your money.......


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## tdc

I'm all for the legendary guitarists listed in this thread, but they are not the only ones worth listening to. Naxos has released a lot of quality cds featuring recent GFA winners, and many newer guitarists. I recommend Ricardo Cobo's Brouwer and Jeremy Jouve's Rodrigo recordings for example.

I don't believe anyone has done a better job of performing Albeniz on guitar than Jorge Caballero, though I'm not certain he has released any Albeniz recordings yet. He does have other discs available on his website.


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## starthrower

I have this CD, and I really enjoy the diversity of material. It's not the same old tired repertoire.


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## Dirge

As much as I like guitar in the folk/pop/rock world, I only listen to one classical guitar work with any regularity …

Joaquín RODRIGO: Invocación y danza (Homenaje a Manuel de Falla) (1961)
:: Pepe Romero [Philips, '92]
:: Marco Socías [Ópera tres, '97]

The quasi-religious Invocation builds in tension throughout, and the release-but not quite total release-of that tension at the segue to the Dance is a downright magical little moment. Romero gives an evocative and artfully dramatic performance that's impressively focused and precise yet wide-ranging and spirited, and it's accomplished with a certain flinty flamenco flair to boot. He screws up tension gradually but surely in the intricately atmospheric Invocation (bringing out the tolling of the bells especially well) and releases it with a just-tempered joy at the dawning of the ambivalent Dance, which is at once joyful and nostalgic. All in all, this is the most deftly pointed and characterized performance of the work that I know.





An excellent alternative comes from Socías, which has recently been reissued by Ediciones Joaquín Rodrigo (coupled with, among other things, the famous yet strangely elusive 1954 Yepes/Argenta/Orquesta Nacional de España recording of _Concierto de Aranjuez_). Socías takes a somewhat more generalized approach to the work, and his smoother, rounder tone and more relaxed (lower tension) character leads to a less dramatic and, I think, slightly less compelling listening experience. His recording is extremely well-regarded in the guitar community, however, and is frequently cited as the recording of choice by those in the know.





* * *

If you're up for some classically influenced pop/rock guitar, you might try Steve Howe's "Mood for a Day" (from the Yes album _Fragile_):


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## Pugg

I just bought this one for less then €5.00, sublime !


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## Barbebleu

This is a great interview with John Williams. Part one of four but the rest are on the same site.

http://www.guitarcoop.com.br/john-williams-interview/


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## Barbebleu

tdc said:


> I'm all for the legendary guitarists listed in this thread, but they are not the only ones worth listening to. Naxos has released a lot of quality cds featuring recent GFA winners, and many newer guitarists. I recommend Ricardo Cobo's Brouwer and Jeremy Jouve's Rodrigo recordings for example.
> 
> I don't believe anyone has done a better job of performing Albeniz on guitar than Jorge Caballero, though I'm not certain he has released any Albeniz recordings yet. He does have other discs available on his website.


No arguments about there being a lot of great classical guitarists around now. Each generation must discover their heroes and at my age I just don't have the time to invest in seeking out the new stars as much as I would love to. I also love Albeniz guitar stuff too.


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## jegreenwood

tdc said:


> I'm all for the legendary guitarists listed in this thread, but they are not the only ones worth listening to. Naxos has released a lot of quality cds featuring recent GFA winners, and many newer guitarists. I recommend Ricardo Cobo's Brouwer and Jeremy Jouve's Rodrigo recordings for example.
> 
> I don't believe anyone has done a better job of performing Albeniz on guitar than Jorge Caballero, though I'm not certain he has released any Albeniz recordings yet. He does have other discs available on his website.


I _thought _I recognized the locale.


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## norman bates

already mentioned, but I really like Paul Galbraith, his unusual way to play the instrument like a cello gives him a beautiful tone.


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## norman bates

isn't this amazing?


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## Omicron9

Greetings.

Less about the performer and more about the composer: anything by Leo Brouwer, both solo and orchestral + guitar.

For performers: anything by Paul Galbraith or Goran Sollscher.

Regards,
-09


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## seven four

Omicron9 said:


> Greetings.
> 
> Less about the performer and more about the composer: anything by , both solo and orchestral + guitar.
> 
> For performers: anything by Paul Galbraith or Goran Sollscher.
> 
> Regards,
> -09


There's a couple of volumes of Leo Brouwer, nice overview and price.

I discovered Galbraith through his album of Debussy and Ravel. I bought the Haydn and Bach and it was still a while before I realised he even used the tone box. I didn't study the covers at all.


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## Guest

The classical guitar is the only instrument I can play reasonably well (3 years studying it full-time), and still, it's not a repertoire or an instrument that attracts me much anymore. Even Julian Bream said that most of the repertoire is pretty "light weight."

To me the classical guitar sounds best when it sticks to its roots and not try to be a piano. When it utilizes its percussive and rhythmic and qualities with nice crisp arpeggios. Some baroque repertoire sounds okay on the guitar but a Bach suite or partita will NEVER sound better on the guitar than it does on strings or keyboard.

Some modern repertoire is great on the guitar. Checkout the concertos by Jacques Hetu (for one or two guitars)! Also some solo pieces he wrote, as recorded by Jerome Ducharme. Britten wrote a very good "nocturnal" for the guitar (op. 70)

But most guitarists are not well-rounded musicians and live in a world of their own. This isn't likely to change because a piano is almost always better suited to accompany another instrument than a guitar!

That being said there are some really good pieces and guitarists worth exploring. I'm going to go see Manuel Barrueco next year.






Check this one out on Spotify:


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## Guest

I played classical guitar 35 years until I recently gave it up and started taking piano lessons. Oddly, I can hardly stand listening to the guitar anymore! I think most transcriptions sound far better on the original instruments, most 19th century original music is too insipid to my ears, and musicianship and knowledge of other works of musical literature is often astoundingly low in many guitarists. I'm now sorry that I wasted so much time playing it. I'd be one hell of pianist by now, I can tell you that!


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## norman bates

DoReFaMi said:


> The classical guitar is the only instrument I can play reasonably well (3 years studying it full-time), and still, it's not a repertoire or an instrument that attracts me much anymore. Even Julian Bream said that most of the repertoire is pretty "light weight."
> 
> To me the classical guitar sounds best when it sticks to its roots and not try to be a piano. When it utilizes its percussive and rhythmic and qualities with nice crisp arpeggios. Some baroque repertoire sounds okay on the guitar but a Bach suite or partita will NEVER sound better on the guitar than it does on strings or keyboard.


onestly the Ciaccona I've posted above played by Raphaella Smits is probably my favorite of all the versions I've ever listened. Having just six strings sometimes it's difficult to transcribe music that was written for a keyboard, but when it's possible I think that Bach sounds wonderful on guitar, like in that case. 
After all he is probably the composer with the greatest numbers of transcriptions for other instruments because his music is much more based on pitch than on particular effects or dynamics.
Anyway it's interesting what you say about the fact of the guitar should "sticks to its roots" and I agree to an extent: the classical idea of the pure tone has often (especially in the past, less for modern guitar) taken away some of the most interesting things that it's possible to do with the instrument, that are instead used normally in popular music. But I like also the harmonic possibilities of the instrument so I like to have the best of both worlds.


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## Animal the Drummer

DoReFaMi said:


> The classical guitar is the only instrument I can play reasonably well (3 years studying it full-time), and still, it's not a repertoire or an instrument that attracts me much anymore. Even Julian Bream said that most of the repertoire is pretty "light weight."
> 
> To me the classical guitar sounds best when it sticks to its roots and not try to be a piano. When it utilizes its percussive and rhythmic and qualities with nice crisp arpeggios. Some baroque repertoire sounds okay on the guitar but a Bach suite or partita will NEVER sound better on the guitar than it does on strings or keyboard.
> 
> Some modern repertoire is great on the guitar. Checkout the concertos by Jacques Hetu (for one or two guitars)! Also some solo pieces he wrote, as recorded by Jerome Ducharme. Britten wrote a very good "nocturnal" for the guitar (op. 70)
> 
> But most guitarists are not well-rounded musicians and live in a world of their own. This isn't likely to change because a piano is almost always better suited to accompany another instrument than a guitar!
> 
> That being said there are some really good pieces and guitarists worth exploring. I'm going to go see Manuel Barrueco next year.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Check this one out on Spotify:
> 
> View attachment 89674


I've never heard better Bach playing on any instrument than that of John Williams playing those very Bach partitas and sonatas. His skill and sensitivity, allied to the subtle differences in sound between the different guitar strings, add up to something truly special in their own right. Transcriptions can never supplant the originals, but these take their place alongside them IMHO. And I'm a pianist, who can play the guitar but rarely does so!


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## seven four

Kontrapunctus said:


> I played classical guitar 35 years until I recently gave it up and started taking piano lessons. Oddly, I can hardly stand listening to the guitar anymore! I think most transcriptions sound far better on the original instruments, most 19th century original music is too insipid to my ears, and musicianship and knowledge of other works of musical literature is often astoundingly low in many guitarists. I'm now sorry that I wasted so much time playing it. I'd be one hell of pianist by now, I can tell you that!


 I know a couple of people who got burnt out. I feel bad I didn't study when I was a kid, so I would have better technique. Maybe after I get settled into my new apt.


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## Nate Miller

Pugg said:


> Parkening and Kathleen Battle / The pleasure of their company is also very wonderful!


I have a CD of those two. She is very good, and so is Chris

for me, what classical guitar music to listen to really goes hand in hand with what music I am playing or preparing for a performance.

so I would suggest finding recordings of the piece, not the player

for example, I'm working on the Bach suites for solo cello, so I have Yo-Yo Ma, Pablo Cassals (naturally) and then John Williams doing a couple of them on guitar. The cello recordings are very useful, BTW


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## jegreenwood

Kontrapunctus said:


> I played classical guitar 35 years until I recently gave it up and started taking piano lessons. Oddly, I can hardly stand listening to the guitar anymore! I think most transcriptions sound far better on the original instruments, most 19th century original music is too insipid to my ears, and musicianship and knowledge of other works of musical literature is often astoundingly low in many guitarists. I'm now sorry that I wasted so much time playing it. I'd be one hell of pianist by now, I can tell you that!


And I wish I could play guitar. The acoustic guitar (and lute) produces a sound that is most pleasing to my ear. As a consequences, I quite enjoy transcriptions, while also listening to these works for the original instruments. As an example, Hopkinson Smith's recordings of the 12 Bach works for solo violin and cello are quite wonderful. I also have multiple recordings of those works for the original instruments.

I am also a big fan of Goran Sollscher's 11 string guitar.

p.s. I also like the sound of vibes and the clarinet, the latter of which I do play (albeit poorly).


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## Guest

I'm also thinking of taking piano lessons... the only positive about the classical guitar is that people who don't know any better do enjoy listening to our (bad - compared to other instrumentalists) playing of it.


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## Guest

Haha, true enough. While I was a high school English teacher, I played for them. Every time I played a Bach fugue (usually the one from his Violin Sonata No.1), invariably, someone would say, "Wow, I didn't know you could do that on the guitar!" It's both complimentary and a little sad that the guitar has that reputation. One time, a student who played violin and knew that fugue said he thought it sounded better on the guitar! ("The voices stand out more clearly and you don't have intonation problems.")


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