Guitar concerts are mainly associated with Southern European and Latin American composers. After all, in those countries the guitar is a widely used instrument with its own musical tradition. On this CD, however, guitarist Craig Ogden performs solo in guitar concerts from Great Britain. All four works on this CD were written for the then very renowned English guitarist Julian Bream. The Serenade
… for guitar and strings op.50 (1955) and the Guitar concert op.67 (1958/1959) by Malcolm Arnold (1921). The serenade ties in with the Mediterranean atmosphere that is characteristic of so many guitar works, while the concert, especially in the final, echoes faint echoes of the most famous guitar concert of all time, Rodrigo's Concerto de Aranjuez. When William Walton (1902-1983) wrote the Five Bagatelles for Guitar and Orchestra (1971), he had lived in Italy for twenty years and it is therefore not surprising that there is also a little British atmosphere here. One of the parts has 'Alla cubana' as a tempo indication and the other parts move in similar atmospheres. Thus, in these pieces predominantly lyrical music is heard, which remains close to the traditional tonality. This is much less the case in the Guitar Concerto op.88 by Lennox Berkely (1903-1989); it constantly balances on the boundary of tonality and atonality, which makes this concert the most modern sounding work on this CD. What these works have in common with all guitar concerts, however, is that there is hardly any real interaction between guitar and orchestra. Because the low volume of the guitar easily subsides in that of the orchestra, the guitar solos are often not or very sparingly accompanied and the full orchestra rarely sounds. Particularly in the finals of these pieces, the guitar disappears completely, in so far as it has not been 'brought forward' with drastic changes to the recording balance. By the way, Ogden is well accompanied here by the Northern Sinfonia led by Richard Hickox. (JvG)more
