MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

REVIEW


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

 

Availability
Paul Galbraith's Site

Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART
Sonata K. 280 in F
Benjamin BRITTEN
Nocturnal after John Dowland, Op. 70
Johann Sebastian BACH
Cello Suite No. 4 in E flat
Isaac ALBÉNIZ
Bajo la Palmera
Maurice RAVEL
Le jardin féërique
Johann Sebastian BACH
Chorale Organ Prelude in “Ich Ruf’ zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ”
Paul Galbraith (guitar)
rec. March 2007, Capitol Studio A, Los Angeles.
Picture format: 16:9, NTSC; Sound format: LPCM stereo; Region Code: 0 (Worldwide)
MASHULKA PRODUCTIONS (No catalog number) [74:00]

Experience Classicsonline



Paul Galbraith plays a unique guitar: it has eight strings, with an extra high and low string, and he holds it like a cello. The instrument has a metal endpin, and stands on a wooden resonance box. He is probably the only guitarist to play such an instrument. I have long appreciated his recordings, notably his transcriptions of Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for unaccompanied violin, which I reviewed here in 2001.

On this DVD, Galbraith presents three works by Mozart, Britten and Bach, as well as three “encores”. Since this was not recorded live before an audience, but in a studio, the choice of the word “encore” is a bit odd, but these three “little” pieces round out the recital.

This is a low-budget DVD, with some cheesy title screens and filming, which, in the first Mozart piece, annoys slightly. Since it’s hard to film a solo artist performing on such an instrument, the camera moves around a lot, even in an arc in front of Galbraith. There are many close-ups of his hands, and lots of cuts, with shots above and below the performer. After a while, I just ignored the visuals, though, and focused on the music. Galbraith is such a fine guitarist, and his unique instrument has a full, rich sound, that listening to this recording is a joy.

I especially like Britten’s Nocturnal, and found it quite interesting to see it performed - notably because, back when I played a bit of classical guitar, it was a piece I tackled. The cameras are less excited during this work than the Mozart, and watching Galbraith play here is more interesting. His transcription of Bach’s fourth cello suite is also interesting and quite attractive. And the encores are nice short pieces, making this a fine recital.

You probably won’t buy this DVD for the video, but rather for the music. In fact, unless you’re a guitarist, it might be better to buy the CD, which contains the same music. It’s not clear if it’s the same takes that are on the DVD or not. But Galbraith is a fine performer, and seeing him play a unique instrument such as his eight-string guitar will certainly interest other guitarists.

Kirk McElhearn
Kirk McElhearn writes about more than just music on his blog Kirkville.

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools






Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.