Tag: Fabio Zanon

A Curated List of Recent Recordings: Villa-Lobos Complete Works

Published on by Leo Garcia1 Comment

As students begin to get serious about developing their concert repertoire, I like to recommend recordings to study and listen to with the score. So instead of scribbling on their score, I thought I would start to post suggestions on Six String Journal.

This week, I’ll suggest a few recordings of the works of Heitor Villa-Lobos. Villa-Lobos’s Five Preludes, Twelve Etudes, Brazilian Suite, and his Choro Nº1 are some of the guitar’s most beloved solo repertoire. Villa-Lobos uses the guitar so indulgently and exploits resonance brilliantly.

Julian Bream, Manuel Barrueco, and Alvaro Pierri’s recordings of these works are wonderful. But there are other recordings that really stand out to me. The first and probably my favorite is Fabio Zanon’s recording of the complete works. Zanon’s playing is beautiful, his guitar sounds heavenly, and the engineering (I think it was the legendary John Taylor) is excellent.

Another great recording is Jose Antonio Escobar’s recording of the Five Preludes, 12 Etudes, and a Modihna. I love the sound of his guitar (Paco Santiago Marin XXX) and the recording is sonically perfect.

Here is a link to Alvaro Pierri’s recording of the Choro, Five Preludes and 12 Etudes. This recording made me listen to what can be done interpretively with these great works. Pierri has a special take on these.

And last for now, here is Norbert Kraft in a recording of the Twelve Etudes. Solid from the first note to the last.

Here are a few great videos of the Five Preludes.

I know I’ve left many videos and recordings out. There are so many. Any favorites that I missed?

Fabio Zanon plays Gentil Montaña

Published on by Leo GarciaLeave a comment

Brazilian guitar superstar, Fabio Zanon, brings Colombian composer, Gentil Montaña’s music to life in this splendid rendition of Porro from the Suite Colombiana Nº2. The production of this video is wonderful and comes via the GuitarCoop. Fabio’s joyful, clear, and musical playing is perfectly complemented by the Hauser II guitar he plays in this video. You’ll listen to this more than once!

Aniello Desiderio – New Music

Published on by Leo GarciaLeave a comment

Here is another wonderful and recent production from Brasil’s GuitarCoop featuring the brilliant Italian virtuoso, Aniello Desiderio performing composer George Schmitz’s Wie Die Nacht Übers Land Kommt new composition. Translated as How the Night Comes Over the Land, I have found my ear unable to stray when listening to this piece, perhaps under the spell of the approaching night. I hope you enjoy the composition and performance as much as I did.

For more details, another wonderful guitarist, Fabio Zanon introduces the piece.

 

Marcelo Kayath

Published on by Leo GarciaLeave a comment

I’ve always been a huge fan of Marcelo Kayath. His recordings from the 80s had a huge impact on my life and I still think the sound of those records is wonderful in many ways.

So, it was with great delight that I heard that he was recording again! Here is a video of the Gigue and Double from Bach’s 2nd Lute Suite, BWV997.

Though I’m not sure whether or not he founded the wonderful Brazilian Guitar Coop Website/Production Company, it is worth checking out on many fronts – from beautifully shot videos, to amazing artist and recordings, to sheet music, it’s a wonderful resource.

Here is Fabio Zanon interviewing Marcelo. There are many pieces of great advice from Marcelo as he tells his story and what led to recording again.

More coming soon…