Search - Leo Brouwer, Tuomas Ollila, Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra :: Leo Brouwer: Guitar Concerto No. 5 "Helsinki"; Iberia Suite; From Yesterday to Penny Lane

5 Stars for the concerto, but it is worth it alone.

Todd Montgomery | Wilmore, KY USA | 06/13/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a case of a totally mismatched CD. "From Yesterday to Penny Lane" a setting of Beatle's tunes for guitar and orchestra, although not by far the worst possible rendering of popular music into a classical form, is still cheesy at best. Brouwer has written tons of other music for guitar, including several other serious concertos, so why Ondine, a fabulous label for giving us under-represented music, chose to include this work on a CD instead of another concerto, is beyond me.



Albeniz's "Iberia" is a fully respectable work, but again, why on this album? Why not wait until the whole work is transcribed, and release it that way?



With those glaring idiocies out of the way, let me say that what was done right here makes this flawed album worth getting. The Concerto #5 "Helsinki" is a breathtaking concerto, delivered passionately by soloist Timo Korhonen. If there's anything you like about music for guitar and orchestra, this work has it. As a genre, guitar concertos are much under-represented, many people only hearing the famous Rodrigo works, but this is one that has all of the technical brilliance of Villa-Lobos, is melodically rich like Ponce, but still has the thematic force of Rodrigo's works. With a soloist this gifted, and Brouwer able to write concertos like this, why do we have to settle for only one complete, good piece of music on a disc? Ondine should drop the fillers, sell this concerto alone at half price, and make another album from a completed Iberia transcription, even if it takes a while for Brouwer or another to finish the work. Still, I stand by my 5 stars. The concerto is worth it, and you won't get it anywhere else. Don't be fooled by the extra junk--Brouwer isn't perfect, but he's a perfectly respectable composer when he wants to be."