{"id":13435,"date":"2019-08-17T10:43:20","date_gmt":"2019-08-17T17:43:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/?p=13435"},"modified":"2021-04-09T09:08:41","modified_gmt":"2021-04-09T16:08:41","slug":"recent-album-releases-jan-depreter-plays-villa-lobos-martha-masters-baroque-project-simon-thackers-svara-kanti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/recent-album-releases-jan-depreter-plays-villa-lobos-martha-masters-baroque-project-simon-thackers-svara-kanti\/","title":{"rendered":"Recent Album Releases: Jan Depreter Plays Villa-Lobos, Martha Masters’ Baroque Project, Simon Thacker’s Svara-Kanti"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some weeks we take a peek at recent albums or sheet music releases. Here are three CDs I like that have come into the Classical Guitar<\/em> office within the past several months.<\/p>\n

If you have a CD you\u2019d like to submit to us, here\u2019s our NEW ADDRESS:<\/p>\n

Classical Guitar
\n941 Marina Way South, Suite E
\nRichmond, CA 94804<\/p>\n

You can listen to some of these on various of streaming services, but we always encourage you to support the artists by actually buying<\/em>\u00a0anything you like! Obviously we cannot research and report every outlet or online business where these albums are sold (Amazon, for instance, has outlets in many different countries\/regions, but we generally link to the U.S. version), so check your favorite places that sell CDs and downloads, as well as your favorite streaming sites!<\/p>\n

To see links to all of our online album listings\/reviews,\u00a0click here<\/a>. \u2014Blair Jackson<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Heitor Villa-Lobos: Complete Works for Guitar Solo<\/strong><\/em>
\nJan Depreter<\/strong>
\nQBK<\/p>\n

Belgian guitarist extraordinaire Jan Depreter<\/a> is not the first person to record the complete solo guitar works of Villa-Lobos (Fabio Zanon and Norbert Kraft are among those who tackled them as a unit, and they are spread across ), nor will he likely be the last, but his recording from the summer of 2018 is a wonderful compendium, executed with the faultless technique, power, and elan we’ve come to expect from Depreter. Of course, many of these pieces pop up in the repertoires of countless classical guitarists around the world, and most of them sit comfortably in mixed programs. But to me they sound even better heard in the context of other Villa-Lobos guitar works, as they’re presented here, particularly the first half, which features some of what I feel is the most beautiful music ever written for classical guitar: Ch\u00f4ros No. 1<\/em>, the five-part Suite Populaire Br\u00e9silienne<\/em> (I particularly love that lilting “Gavotta-Ch\u00f4ro”), and, best of all, Cinq Pr\u00e9ludes pour Guitar<\/em>, which offers an astounding range of melodic flights, from pretty uptempo romps to the exquisite “Lento.” Depreter is masterful throughout, his active left hand wringing extra emotion out certain notes, his right hand eliciting subtle tonal shifts with ease. The speedy passages flow with seemingly effortless elegance, the slow ones ooze heartfelt emotion.<\/p>\n

I’m probably in the minority on this, but for me the Douze \u00c9tudes pour Guitare<\/em> that make up the second half of the disc are not nearly as interesting. Because they’re \u00e9tudes, presumably intended to teach specific skills, they don’t develop the way conventional pieces do, so there’s not as much going in some of them. And while some of them sound fiendishly difficult, and no doubt mastering all the \u00e9tudes would aid in the playing of the more formal Villa-Lobos pieces, as a group they are not as compelling a listening experience. (That said, some are marvelous standalone pieces, like the jaunty No. 7 and moody No. 11.) Still, I highly recommend this disc, which I’ve listened to a lot, always getting new things out of it. Great recording by Bart Celis, too!<\/p>\n

Choros No. 1<\/em>; Suite Populaire Bresilienne: Mazurka, Schottish, Valsa, Gavotta, Chorinho<\/em>; Cinq Pr\u00e9ludes pour Guitare: Andantino espressivo, Andantino, Andante, Lento, Poco animato<\/em>; Douze Etudes pour Guitare: 1. Allegro non troppo, 2. Allegro, 3. Allegro moderato, 4. Poco moderato, 5. Andantico, 6. :Poco allegro, 7. Tres anime, 8Modere, 9.Tre peu anime 10. Tres anime, 11. Lent 12. Anime<\/em><\/p>\n

The album can be purchased through CD Baby,<\/a> bought and\/or streamed through iTunes\/Apple Music<\/a> and Amazon<\/a>, and streamed on Spotify<\/a> and YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n