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Andrés Segovia and his Contemporaries - Vol 14
The Guitar in Spain, Part 2: 1928-1957
rec. 1928-1957
DOREMI DHR-8139 [79:01]

This long-running series continues to be extremely well annotated by Jack Silver and full of interesting recordings. It also continues in its rather long-winded way as regards disc titles and subtitles but it’s a price worth paying to gain a ticket for admittance.

Segovia himself is represented by broadcast performances. There’s a souvenir of his appearance with André Kostelanetz and His Orchestra in November 1943 but rather more substantial is a selection of four pieces from a 1957 BBC broadcast. Two are by Luys de Narvaez which capture the penetrating nature of the guitarist’s articulation, one is a Segovia transcription of Rameau and to finish there are some ravishing voicings in Bach’s Gavottes 1 and 2 from the Cello Suite No.6. This transfer preserves the announcer’s introductions.

Miguel Borrull’s father was a much-admired flamenco guitarist and Tárrega student and this element clearly informed young Miguel’s performances if this brace of performances is illustrative. He subjects Albéniz’s Granada to much metrical bending of the line and brings real flair to this and to Tárrega’s Adelita too, a recording made in 1928. Rosita Rodés recorded a year or so later, and Doremi has selected a Parlophon and an Odeon. She reveals exceptional qualities of clarity and colour and her sense of time is flexible. She plays the Courante from the same Bach suite that Segovia performed.

Both Borrull and Rodés show the versatility and stylistic independence of Spanish guitarists of this period, something that is further evidenced by the presence in this album of four recordings made in 1931 by the short-lived Francisco Alfonso (1908-40). His death in Havana was due to malaria. He has more tonal depth and breadth than Rodés and his vivid playing has a natural rhythmic buoyancy and verve. He too plays the same Courante that Rodés plays and his gracefulness makes a strong contrast to her etude-like delivery. He would clearly have become a major figure in post-war guitar music, had he lived.

Lalyta Almiron recorded for Odeon in the same year as Alfonso, despite being six years younger; she was actually only 17 or so when she recorded. Perhaps as a result her playing is showy and full of well-rehearsed virtuoso flourishes in Chopin and Tárrega. More flashy than truly musical, there’s a metronomic quality to her playing in these examples but as noted she was very young and went on to have a good career, performing until 1989 when she was in her mid-70s. Madrid-born Vincente Gómez plays two of his own pieces and, invariably, something by Tárrega in a selection culled from his Decca album of 1940. A colourful and characterful soloist, he was popular in New York and in Hollywood where he was recorded in film soundtracks.

Alfonso Sorrosal died in his mid-40s in 1946. Largely self-taught he recorded for Odeon in Barcelona in 1941 and his subtle artistry in Sor and Borodin reflects something the conductor Franz Konwitschny apparently said of him: ‘Sorrosal’s guitar was an orchestra from which all the colours of dreams and poetry arose…’ In 1943 Ángel Iglesias recorded a number of sides from which a representative trio has been selected here; Granados, a piece by Iglesias himself (an Arabesque), which he plays with teak-like tone and great facility, and – of course – Tárrega. The details of his life make for salutary reading, not least criss-crossing Europe in wartime but the evidence of his musicianship is clear even in a somewhat scuffily preserved Tárrega Gran Jota. Inspired by Segovia and a student of Llobet, Luis Maravilla recorded a large number of flamenco recordings, and we duly find one here, but also here is one of a select group of strictly classical recordings he made for Sondor in Uruguay c. 1950. This is his own Aires Gallegas, folklorically based and charmingly played. In Falla’s Danza del Molinero from The Three-Cornered Hat he is joined by the Mexican flamenco dancer Roberto Ximenez for a tangy example of the genre.

The repertoire in this disc, whilst somewhat similar in some cases, has a kind of vibrant individuality that ensures that one is never indifferent. Unpredictability in performance – of rhythm, colour and articulation – keeps everything alive. You’ll also enjoy the biographical notes and black and white photographs of the performers.

Jonathan Woolf

Contents
Enrique GRANADOS (1867-1916)
Danzas españolas, Op 37 Nos 1-12: No 5, Andaluza [3:52]
André Kostelanetz and His Orchestra
Luis de NARVÁEZ (1526-1549)
Canción del Emperador (sobre "Mille Regretz" de Josquin des Prez) [3:26]
Guardame las vacas I [2:47]
Jean-Philippe RAMEAU (1683-1764)
Platée; Minuet (transcr. Segovia for guitar) [3:25]
Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750)
Cello Suite No 6 in D major, BWV1012: V. Gavottes I & II (arr. for guitar) [4:15]
Miguel Borrull (guitar)
Isaac ALBÉNIZ (1860-1909)
Suite española No 1, Op. 47 No 1, Granada [3:23]
Francisco TÁRREGA (1852-1909)
Adelita [2:16]
Rosita Rodés (guitar)
Daniel FORTEA (1878-1953)
Andaluza [3:13]
Johann Sebastian BACH
Cello Suite No 3 in C major, BWV1009 III. Courante (arr. for guitar) [2:27]
Francisco Alfonso (guitar)
Joaquín MALATS (1872-1912)
Serenata espanola [2:56]
Enrique GRANADOS
Danzas españolas, Op 37 Nos 1-12 No 5, Andaluza (arr. for guitar) [3:22]
Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750)
Prelude in C minor, BWV 999 - Lute Suite in E minor, BWV 996 II. Allemande (arr. for guitar) [3:09]
Cello Suite No 3 in C major, BWV1009 III. Courante (arr. for guitar) [2:31]
Lalyta Almirón (guitar)
Fryderyk CHOPIN (1810-1849)
Nocturne No 2 in E-flat major, Op 9 No 2 [3:28]
Francisco TÁRREGA
Sueno [3:07]
Vicente Gómez (guitar)
Francisco TÁRREGA
Tárrega: Gran Jota [4:11]
Vicente GÓMEZ (1911-2001)
Guajiras Cubanas [3:39]
Lamento for guitar [3:31]
Alfonso Sorrosal de Villalonga (guitar)
Fernando SOR (1778-1839)
Themes variés et 12 Menuets, Op 11 No 6, Menuet [2:23]
Alexander BORODIN (1833-1887)
Petite Suite VI. Sérénade (arr. for guitar) [2:00]
Ángel Iglesias (guitar)
Enrique GRANADOS
Danzas españolas, Op 37 Nos 1-12; No 5, Andaluza (arr. for guitar) [3:12]
Ángel IGLESIAS (1917-1977)
Arabesque for Guitar [3:10]
Francisco TÁRREGA
Gran Jota [3:22]
Luis Maravilla (guitar)
Manuel de FALLA (1876-1946)
Danza del Molinero: El sombrero de tres picos (arr. for guitar) with Roberto Ximenez (flamenco dancer) [2:23]
Luis MARAVILLA (1914-2000)
Aires Gallegos [3:18]