Rafael de Acha reviews Emanuele Segre, Carlo Boccadoro, and Orchestra I Pomeriggi Musicali’s Italian Guitar Concertos recording on Rafael Music Notes:
“The Italian guitarist Emanuele Segre’s recording of Italian concerti for guitar has instantly become a favorite in my collection of CD’s thanks to this artist’s gifts for bringing to new life the familiar – Antonio Vivaldi’s Concerto in D Major and Mauro Giuliani’s Gran Quintetto – and introducing the unfamiliar – Antonio Vivaldi’s Aria for Guitar and String Orchestra, Giovanni Solima’s The Back Owl and Carlo Boccadoro’s Dulcis Memoria II, both in world premiere recordings – and making it all instantly compelling. Segre’s dazzling technical gifts never take center stage to overwhelm the music itself with facile tricks, but rather serve the demands of the compositions he takes on, allowing for the music itself to be the main event, not the playing of it. But play he does with a mix of bravura and delicacy, sobriety and passion, as called for by the various moments in the music. Listening to how this protean artist summons a seamless cantabile legato in the Aria for Guitar and String Orchestra from what is at its core a strumming, plucking instrument is a thing of wonder. … Equal partners in the superb music-making, Carlo Boccadoro and the Orchestra I Pomeriggi Musicali, and in the Vivaldi harpsichordist Angela Lazzaroni alternately provide ever-supportive accompaniment, rock solid continuo and moments of solo virtuosity. …another collector’s must-have.”
—Rafael de Acha, Rafel Music Notes
See the full review on rafaelmusicnotes.com
