Among the 53 compositions comprising Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Greeting Cards Op. 170, 21 are for solo guitar. Each piece is based on the name of a friend or colleague. Letters from their names correspond to pitches that are folded into two specific thematic groups derived from chromatic scales.
Of course you don’t have to know all this in order to appreciate Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s exquisite workmanship, his attractive harmonic palette, and his idiomatic guitar writing. The music abounds with variety and character. I’ll give a few examples. Take Brasileira sul nome di Laurindo Almeida, for instance. Who knew that wide interval leaps would be compatible with a samba’s churning momentum? Or how serially-derived melodies could convey gentle yet mercurial lyricism, as in Ballatella on the name of Christopher Parkening. I especially love the yearning songfulness of Romanza sul nome di Oscar Ghiglia, where the imitative lines and general harmonic scheme sound like updated Schumann. Also note the subtle and haunting use of harmonics in A Lullaby for Eugene to Eugene Robin Escovado.
Guitarist Cristiano Porqueddu obviously has lavished much time, care, thought, and preparation upon these works. His nuanced articulation allows him to sustain and spin out legato lines as if his fingers had bows, while short detached passages are clearly delineated and never harsh. Indeed, it’s interesting how his suave and rounded interpretation of the opening Tonadilla dedicated to Andrés Segovia differs from that master’s better known yet blunter, more aggressive performance. Dare I say that I prefer Porqueddu’s?
The guitarist offers works by the late Angelo Gilardino as bonus tracks. The Capriccio is essentially a study in rapid motoric patterns, while the three-movement Sonata Mediterranea fares best in its expansive, tuneful first-movement Cipressi. Had the third-movement Pini sul Mare been reduced to half its duration the music would make its thorny, dissonance-tinged point more effectively. Brilliant Classics’ fine engineering and annotations deserve high marks too.
