Guitarrista: Six Tales on Six Strings
Heitor VILLA-LOBOS (1887-1959)
Suite Populaire Brésilienne (1912, rev. 1947-48): IV. Gavotta Chôros [5:30]
Isaac ALBÉNIZ (1860-1909)
Suite Espańola No. 1, Op. 47 (1882-89): Leyenda [7:03]; Granada [5:53]
Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750)
Partita No. 2 for Solo Violin i D minor, BWV 1004 (1717-20): Chaconne [16:32]
Fryderyk CHOPIN (1810-1849)
Nocturne in E-flat major Op. 9, No. 2 (1830-31, arr. Erik Rydberg) [4:57]
Erik RYDBERG
Barolo [4:05]
Erik Rydberg (guitar)
No recording dates and venue given
Private Release [44:40]
Discographic details concerning this disc are scant and an attempt to contact the guitarist Erik Rydberg through his homepage several weeks ago failed. What I know from his bio on the homepage is as follows: ‘Erik is a classically trained guitarist and well rounded musician. Playing since the age of 6 he has performed in a wide variety of styles and his influences cover a broad spectrum of musical history. It all started with a cassette tape of Segovia’s favourite classics and a half scale nylon string guitar at an early age and what followed was a lifetime of various musical endeavours involving every guitar playing style. After over 40 years of playing/performing and several out of pocket trips to a recording studio, he invested in a HiFi capable professional project studio and began recording and engineering his own sound in collaboration with Allusion Studios (Tucson, AZ) and the guidance of friend and Grammy nominated, long time music veteran Jim Pavett.’ He has issued some previous CDs and they and the previous one should be able to order through his homepage (address see above). His private studio is presented on the homepage and it is certainly impressive. The sound on the present disc is closely recorded and his aim is to give the listener the impression of sitting very close to the guitarist during a private listening session.
The programme, somewhat unconventionally, encompasses mainly transcriptions of music for other instruments; only the opening Gavotta by Villa-Lobos and the concluding Barolo-Rydberg’s own composition-were conceived for guitar. Villa-Lobos was enormously prolific, allegedly his total oeuvre encompasses more than 2000 works. Of those only about 40 were written for guitar, but they are among his highly regarded works. Andres Segovia admired them and the 12 Etudes were dedicated to him, even though at first he considered them unplayable. Whether he ever played the Brazilian Suite I don’t know. Erik Rydberg has the rhythmic fervour to make the most of this early masterpiece. The two Albeniz pieces from Suite Espańola No. 1 also finds him in his element. Originally written for piano they are also well suited for the guitar. In fact Albeniz was strongly influenced by the instrument and guitarists have long tackled his pieces in transcriptions. The rhythmic verve and the fluent finger-work in the opening filigree permeated section of Leyenda and also in the better-known Granada.
Bach’s lute suites have long attracted guitarists, and Segovia was one of the pioneers. But he also arranged quite a lot of other Bach works, not least his music for solo violin and solo cello, including the Chaconne from the second Partita for solo violin, which Erik Rydberg plays here. I suspect that it is Segovia’s arrangement he plays. It is a mammoth work that requires both technical brilliance and legato playing. Rydberg provides both at a somewhat more leisurely tempo than Segovia himself. And I don’t mind. Honestly I still prefer the original violin version but I’m impressed by the delivered here.
The delicious E-flat Major Nocturne by Chopin is a well-found contrast to the Chaconne and it lends itself very well to the guitar. Atmospheric playing. Rounding off the rather short programme with his own composition, Erik Rydberg has the opportunity to demonstrate his tremolo technique. Barolo is to me an excellent red wine from the Piemonte region in northern Italy. Whether the composition is inspired by this wine would be interesting to know. The playing is however tasty and aromatic. But there was definitely room for another two or three glasses of the same brand.
Göran Forsling
