Recently Heard: Panorama: Joaquín Rodrigo

Panorama: Joaquín Rodrigo

So many Classical labels seem to be releasing so many different reissues of great, earlier albums as multi-disc sets. Many are exactly that: 1 disc per 1 album. The Panorama series is, near as I can tell with the vast experience of this particular recording and absolutely no additional research whatsoever, an assemblage of multiple albums - a "Greatest Hits", except, unlike some bargain basement recordings labeled as such, these are first rate performances. In this case, you have music by classical guitar virtuosos Narciso Yepes and multiple Romeros, amongst others.

If you had to pick two Rodrigo tunes for one of those aforementioned "greatest hits" beasties, you'd be looking at, without question, Concierto de Aranjuez and Fantasa para un gentilhombre, both works for guitar and orchestra, and both, very likely, containing melodies even the anti-classical-music folks amongst you have heard before. As a guitarist, I sought out a recording of these works when my compact disc collection was still numbering in the single digits. In most of the stores back in those pre-online days, I searched long and hard to see if Rodrigo wrote anything else. Those pieces were all you could find, and I wanted more.

Eventually, of course, I discovered that there was more. Specifically, in the guitar & orchestra department, there was the Concierto andaluz (for four guitars, no less) and the Concierto madrigal (for two guitars). Rodrigo also had a flute and a harp concerto - two instruments that could really benefit from quite a few more concertos. Add in Entre olivares, for solo guitar, and you have the contents of this two disc set.

Although it will take many listenings for the melodies of these other works to reach as deep as Aranjuez and gentilhombre have, they are works of the same quality, and I have no doubt they will one day imbed themselves in my memory as their more famous fellow compositions have. This disc definitely satisfies, although at the same time, it leaves me wishing to collect more of Rodrigo's music, and, even then, to wish he had been more prolific. After all, there are only two other conciertos for guitar and orchestra beyond these four, and only two for piano, two for cello, one for violin... and then there's his choral works, solo guitar pieces...

This collection, however, forms an excellent core set of works, and is highly recommended.

Apocalyptica - Path

Continuing the Apocalyptica series, here is an original - non-Metallica! - tune from their third album, Cult, wherein the band shadow-cello-duels (hmm, bit unwieldy that, no wonder "shadowboxing" is a more commonly used term) with, well, their shadows: