Here’s a well-curated and splendidly remastered four-CD overview of Andrés Segovia’s recordings for American Decca. Disc 1 features concertos tailored to Segovia’s singular artistry, including Rodrigo’s ravishing Fantasia para un Gentilhombre and Ponce’s smartly crafted Concierto del Sur. After hearing Segovia in concert, cellist Gaspar Cassadó was inspired to transcribe Boccherini’s Cello Concerto No. 6 for guitar and orchestra, and the results prove as idiomatic and colorfully executed as you expect.
Solo works by Rodrigo and Ponce along with pieces by other composers who wrote for Segovia, such as Torroba, Mompou, Castelnuevo-Tedesco, and Esplá, encompass the second disc. Disc three focuses on Renaissance, Baroque, and early Classical-period guitar masters, highlighted by a deftly turned group of Sor etudes. Some lovely Albeníz and Granados miniatures round out the disc.
The final disc is given over to Segovia’s celebrated Bach arrangements. While Segovia’s tempo fluctuations and comely slides are far removed from modern-day notions of “correct” Bach performance practice, you can’t fault the expressive intelligence and vocally-informed phrasing he brings to excerpts from the B minor Violin Partita, the Third Solo Cello Suite, sundry Lute Suite movements, and, of course, his famous treatment of the mighty Chaconne from the D minor Violin Partita. In addition to excellent biographical notes by Graham Wade, John Lehmann-Haupt (an excellent guitarist/arranger in his own right) provides interesting and valuable insights on the subject of Segovia in the studio. Let’s hope that DG might embark on a comprehensive, systematic reissue series devoted to all of Segovia’s Decca output!
