{"id":13907,"date":"2019-11-30T15:49:26","date_gmt":"2019-11-30T23:49:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/?p=13907"},"modified":"2020-12-31T12:02:04","modified_gmt":"2020-12-31T20:02:04","slug":"recent-album-releases-jose-antonio-escobar-steve-cowan-and-stephane-de-carvalho","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/recent-album-releases-jose-antonio-escobar-steve-cowan-and-stephane-de-carvalho\/","title":{"rendered":"Recent Album Releases: Jos\u00e9 Antonio Escobar; Steve Cowan, and St\u00e9phane de Carvalho"},"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>\u00a0office 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 streaming services, but we always encourage you to support the artists by actually\u00a0buying<\/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.\u00a0 \u2014Blair Jackson<\/em><\/p>\n

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

\"\"
\nEduardo S\u00e1inz de la Maza: Guitar Music<\/strong><\/em>
\nJos\u00e9 Antonio Escobar
\n<\/strong>(Naxos)<\/p>\n

First, let’s take a moment to once again praise the Naxos label for their unwavering dedication to presenting the full breadth and scope of the classical guitar world, from “recitals” by up-and-coming guitarists to deep-dive series (often stretching over years) in which contemporary guitarists interpret guitar works by a given composer. The label’s taste in projects is impeccable, the guitarists are all first-rate, and the sonics always top notch, as well. Their latest triumph is this single-disc of guitar music by Spanish composer\/guitarist Eduardo S\u00e1inz de la Maza (1903\u20131982). Though somewhat overshadowed by his virtuoso-guitarist brother Regino\u2014who will forever be linked to Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez<\/em>, as its dedicatee, the first to play it in public, and the first to record it\u2014Eduardo enjoyed a long and fruitful career, as well (nicely illuminated in Graham Wade’s excellent-as-always album notes), and his standing appears to still be on the rise. This album will certainly help that. It’s an utter joy to listen to, and Chilean guitarist Jos\u00e9 Antonio Escobar (who currently resides in Spain) is fantastic throughout.<\/p>\n

The album starts with two of S\u00e1inz de la Maza’s best-known works: The percolating, rhythmic Habanera<\/em> and the beautiful and evocative Campanas del alba<\/em> (“Bells of dawn”; love the tremolo!). Though written in the ’50s and early ’60s respectively, both fall clearly within the lineage of classic Spanish-Romantic works from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Also filled with Spanish character, but a bit more modern-sounding, is the wonderful eight-part, 25-minute suite from the late ’60s called Platero y yo<\/em> (“Platero and I”), which was inspired by a series of prose-poems by Juan Ram\u00f3n Martinez about a pet donkey and some of the people and creatures Platero and his master (who is telling the story) encounter in their travels together. That’s a terribly short and feeble description of the tale, which is actually surprisingly deep, veering from “El loco” to “La muerte” (no translations needed!)\u2014with many side roads in between. I urge you to look it up online sometime. It’s quite captivating! Martinez wrote 138 poems in the Platero<\/em> series, eight of which S\u00e1inz de la Maza chose to “illustrate” musically. Graham Wade offers a helpful description of what each section describes. (By the way, this Platero y yo<\/em> is not to be confused with Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s rendering of the story in 28<\/em> parts, five of which were recorded by Segovia in the mid-’60s; you can hear all 28 of his on a 2-CD Naxos release<\/a> performed by French guitarist Catherine Liolios.)<\/p>\n

The second half of the album includes three homenajes<\/em>, including the enchanting (and popular among guitarists) Homenaje a la guitarra<\/em> (dedicated to brother Regino), the Homenaje a Toulouse-Lautrec<\/em> (I couldn’t tell you how it relates to the artist, but it’s a nice piece), and Homenaje a Haydn<\/em>, which somehow manages to evoke both Haydn and Spain simultaneously. The remaining four pieces jump from Bolero<\/em> (1936) up to Evocaci\u00f3n Criolla<\/em> (“Creole”) in 1978, all of them deeply melodic and steeped in an underlying neo-Romanticism he never seemed to fully abandon.<\/p>\n

A marvelous collection from beginning to end!<\/p>\n

Habanera<\/span><\/em>;<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Campanas del alba<\/em>; Platero y yo: Platero, El Loco, La azotea, Darb\u00f3n, Paseo, La tortuga, La muerte, A Platero en su tierra<\/em>; Homenaje a la guitarra<\/em>; Homenaje a Toulouse Lautrec<\/em>; Confidencia<\/em>; Homenaje a Haydn<\/em>; Bolero<\/em>; So\u00f1ando caminos<\/em>; Evocaci\u00f3n criolla<\/em>; Laberinto<\/em><\/p>\n

Escobar’s album can be purchased \/streamed through Amazon<\/a> and iTunes\/Apple Music<\/a>, sampled and bought on Presto Classical<\/a>, and streamed on Spotify<\/a> and YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n