Search - Julian Bream :: Julian Bream Plays Granados & Albeniz, (Music of Spain, Vol. 5)

An old favorite

Eric J. Anderson | Ankeny, Iowa | 12/20/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First, note that amazon's listing of tracks is incomplete. Click on the viewer images for a correct list.



This was one of the first compact discs I purchased. It was a blind buy, from a record club. I played it a lot back then, and it became one of my favorites. This week I pulled it out and played it for the first time in many years. It still holds up. Maybe better than ever. This appears to be an early digital recording, or an early digital mastering. As such, the sound quality may not be the ultimate. Early digital can sometimes sound a little harsh, especially if the instrument is too close to the mike. On this CD, there is plenty of reverberation from the very acoustically "live" recording venue, which softens the presentation a bit and overall the sound is very good to excellent.



I'm not an expert on classical music, or guitar music, though I play guitar -- nowhere near this league. Are there better performances of these Granados and Albeniz works? I doubt it. Different perhaps, but not likely better.



The composers are Spanish, and the music sounds authentically Spanish. Bream plays with great control, with careful accent and variation in volume -- it makes the music sing and breathe. The melodic nature of the pieces themselves would make them easy on the ear no matter how they were played. But Bream is able to put considerable dynamic life into them, and quiet lyricism on the opening "Dedicatoria" by Granados. I appreciate the mixture of contemplative melody and lively dynamics, and I suppose that's why I played this disc so often circa 1990 when I bought it.



If you are remotely sympathetic to this style of music and to the classical guitar, I doubt you will be disappointed in this release. For me, it has had great replay value. If you can find it at a reasonable price, do not hesitate."