Search - John Williams :: Rodrigo Concierto De Aranjuez

A Masterly Performance

RICK RIEKERT | 08/15/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First released on LP in 1974, this has long been my favorite recording of the popular Concierto de Aranjuez. Williams' playing is brilliant (of course) and the ECO is wonderfully responsive under the inspired direction of Daniel Barenboim. The highlight of the performance is the famous Adagio, played here with a finely nuanced eloquence. The sound is vivid if slightly lacking in bloom and allows one to savor every detail of the score. Some might balk at the forward placing of the guitar, but to my ears this only helps draw in the listener and makes for a totally involving musical experience. The Villa-Lobos Concerto, though less well known than the Aranjuez, is also given an excellent performance by these fine artists."

Fine Old Recording of Two Great Guitar Concertos

James Yelvington | USA | 06/18/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

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This CD contains recordings of two very fine guitar concertos well performed by the soloist John Williams and the English Chamber Orchestra conducted by Daniel Barenboim. The 1974 sound, while not digital, is very good and fully satisfactory to my ears. Less impressive is the somewhat skimpy (less than 42 minutes) total duration of the disk.



The remastering, presumably from the original session tapes, seems to have been done well, though we are not informed as to when, by whom, or with what equipment the task was accomplished. Nor are we told where, when, or exactly how the original recording was made. Such details, though quite common today on classical releases, were less often revealed back in the 1970s.



The above observation leads me to a quibble about the way this CD is marked: in a banner across the upper right corner of the insert's front cover the word "Digital" is written twice, along with the CBS logo. But this is not an originally digital recording, for in the lower left corner it says "Digitally Mastered Analog Recording." (What the upper right corner giveth, the lower left taketh away!) Now, it's true that this IS a digital product, but as all CDs are digital it's quite redundant to label the disk so. Of more significance is the technology employed in the original recording, about which we are only informed here in small print in the lower left corner. I'm happy to say that today most CD manufacturers label their disks as digital only when they are originally recorded via digital means, and indeed most now use the 3-letter SPARS code to indicate the technologies used in (1) the original recording, (2) the mixing and editing, and (3) the mastering. Too bad CBS didn't do that here, though most savvy CD buyers will figure it out anyway, given the original recording or copyright date. (Digital recording didn't arrive until around 1980.)



Regarding the Villa-Lobos concerto, I should perhaps point out that the work is in 3 movements, though only 2 tracks are allotted. The reason for this is that the second and third movements are linked together by an elaborate cadenza to form one continuous stream of music.



To summarize, this is a fine analog recording of two excellent guitar concertos, well performed by top-notch artists. Though some may prefer other renditions, there is really nothing lacking on this somewhat brief disk, and I rate it at 5 stars. (I ought to confess though that my own favorite recordings of these works are Pepe Romero's [digital] rendition of the Rodrigo concerto and Julian Bream's rendition of the Villa-Lobos work.)

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