Search - Andres Segovia :: The Segovia Collection, Vol. 3: My Favorite Works

Segovia incomparable!

M. Levitt - classical music buff | Philadelphia, PA | 07/24/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What can I say? Though other fine guitarists have recorded much of the music on this CD, Segovia's playing is incomparable, a joy to hear, the standard by which all other guitarists must be judged.



This CD, Volume 3 of The Segovia Collection (MCA) contains several works by Albeniz (Sevilla, Granada, Zambra Granadina, Leyenda), as well as those by Torroba (Piezas Carateristicas), Tarrega (Recuerdos de la Alhambra), Granados (Tonadilla), Turina (Sevillana), and Sor (excerpts from the Twenty Studies) among others.



This CD is worth having even if it mostly duplicates DGG's The Segovia Collection (4 CDs) because it gathers so many fine works on one CD, it is a fine example of Segovia'a art, and it is attractive pricewise for the collector not interested in purchasing the 4CD DGG Box. Though out of print, it is available from Amazon.com's Marketplace Sellers.



One correction: Segovia performs Sor Studies nos. 14 in A Major, 16 in G Major, 5 in B Minor, and 12 in A Major, NOT the Studies listed (the keys that the studies are in is correct)."

Great performances, CD transfer sucks

Paul Magnussen | Campbell, CA USA | 03/27/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This disc has no recording data, as have Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, but the Sor Studies, "Recuerdos" and the "Capricho Diabolico" are asterisked as mono. This would seem to imply that the others are stereo, but they apppear to me to be victims of the grisly process known as "electronically rechannelling to simulate stereo". In the case of a solo guitarist, this usually means adding some echo, and on this disc it sounds more appropriate to Hank Marvin than Segovia. The effect is like sitting in the living room, listening to someone playing in the bathroom.



The first Segovia record I ever bought (in France, as it happens) was a Deutsche Grammophon EP containing four magnificent (mono, naturally) performances: "Sevilla", "Torre Bermeja", and Granados's "Spanish Dances 5 & 10". "Sevilla" is the identical recording to the one on this CD, but, worn though that EP is, it still sounds better. The same applies to the "Tonadilla" (*the* definitive performance of that piece) and the "Piezas Características", which are from the superb three-record "Golden Jubilee" album recorded in 1958.



A great deal of though went into designing the CD format, even in tiny details (e.g. to scan an English bookshelf or record rack, you turn your head to the right; a Spanish one, to the left. Have you noticed that the spines of a CD can have their title either way?). CDs were conceived as an expensive, up-market commodity, and no one was sure they would catch on; that is why early CDs all have indexing for the movements of long works.



With CDs succeeding beyond anyone's wildest dreams, this careful wooing of the purchaser has in many cases gone by the board -- as here. Neither the Torroba nor the Sor has any indexing, so that if you just want to listen to (say) "Albada", you're S.O.L. In this respect, the CD is *worse* than a gramophone record, for at least with the latter you can move the pick-up arm forward.



In short, Vol. 3 is a disgrace and should be withdrawn and redone.



I would have liked to have had a CD version of the original "Golden Jubilee", in glorious mono, but now I don't suppose we shall ever see it (although some of it has now appeared on the remastered Deutsche Grammophon Collection). The latter also contains the Torroba work -- with proper banding!



The total time is 69'24"."