Search - Isaac Albeniz, Trio Campanella :: Albéniz: Iberia

One of the most beautiful recordings I have ever heard

W. Soll | St. Louis, MO | 10/26/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"IBERIA is an 80-minute, 12 movement evocation of the richness of Spanish landscape and life. Of it, Claude Debussy wrote, "Never has music achieved such diversified, such colourful impressions." Albeniz' music in general is exceptionally well-suited to the guitar, and has often been transcribed for that instrument. But Iberia is too complex to be rendered in its entirety by a single guitar. The solution offered on this CD is to transcribe Iberia for THREE guitars. It is a marvelous solution, both in its conception by Christophe Dejour and in this performance by Trio Campanella, of which Dejour is a member. In Guitarra magazine, Andrew Hull opines that "if Albeniz had known of such a trio as this, he would have written the piece for them." Matthew Shorter (BBC) concurs: "The weave created by three guitars playing together brings out the subtleties of Albéniz's counterpoint even more than the original piano version, where foreground melodies tend to be favoured over the beautifully turned internal lines." A superlatively wonderful disc.



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A viable alternative to Alicia de Larrocha

Tom Poore | South Euclid, OH | 10/25/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Originally for piano solo, "Iberia" is the best known and loved work of Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz. Christophe Dejour of the Scandinavian guitar ensemble Trio Campanella transcribed all twelve movements of this landmark work. The performances on this recording are sharply etched and assuredly idiomatic."