This traversal of Villa-Lobos' guitar music begins with a most unfortunate reading of the Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 in an arrangement for voice and guitar. Sure, it's by far the best-known selection on the album, but quality should trump familiarity. The best that can be said for Mexican soprano Irasema Terrazas' appearance is that it is short: her shrill tone is quite unpleasant and there are some uncertain maneuverings around pitch. Once the score descends into more singable territory, the thinness of her voice becomes more and more apparent. (It's worth noting that Terrazas has made her mark in her home country singing in Phantom of the Opera, not as a classical artist.) The following Modhina, again for voice and guitar, is no better. If anything, Terrazas' technique gets worse: we hear her audible gasps for breath in the middle of phrases.

It's too bad that eight minutes of a disc that's barely 53 minutes long is taken up with Terrazas' fumblings, because Juan Carlos Laguna is a very fine guitarist and the repertoire is interesting. Segovia, for whom the Estudios Nos. 1-12 were written, noted that Villa-Lobos--though he was a cellist--"understood the guitar perfectly." The bulk of the recording consists of the Estudios, technically demanding exercises that bear certain similarities to Paganini's études for violin. Such studies are enjoyable in their own right in the hands of a master musician (who makes them seem easy), but they otherwise would be tortuous for the player and excruciatingly boring for the listener.

The last two selections are notable in part for their odd ensembles: Distribuiçao de Flores (Distribution of Flowers), a.k.a. Motivos gregos (Greek Motifs) calls for women's chorus, flute, and guitar. Sexteto Místico (Mystical Sextet) is scored for flute, oboe, saxophone, harp, guitar, and celesta. This version of Distribution of Flowers has no voices, and the result is spare indeed: a few delicate flute meanderings here, a few strokes of the guitar there. The Mystic Sextet's intriguing texture and densely set layers of tonality give the piece an ethereal, floating feel that suits its name well, and Laguna's gentle, low-key approach is matched by his colleagues. The sound is very good: close, but not too close. It's a disc worth hearing, but be sure to go straight to Track 3.

--Anastasia Tsioulcas