{"id":2269,"date":"2015-07-22T14:54:57","date_gmt":"2015-07-22T21:54:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/?p=2269"},"modified":"2021-06-29T15:31:22","modified_gmt":"2021-06-29T22:31:22","slug":"david-russell-xuefei-yang-and-milos-karadaglic-reflect-on-the-concierto-de-aranjuez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/david-russell-xuefei-yang-and-milos-karadaglic-reflect-on-the-concierto-de-aranjuez\/","title":{"rendered":"David Russell, Xuefei Yang, and Milos Karadaglic Reflect on the ‘Concierto de Aranjuez\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

On its 75th anniversary, three master guitarists reflect on Joaqu\u00cdn Rodrigo\u2019s popular masterpiece<\/em><\/p>\n

\"joaquin-art\"<\/h3>\n

To get inside the<\/em> Concierto de Aranjuez from the player\u2019s perspective, I interviewed three guitarists who have added their unique interpretations to the canon of recorded versions: David Russell<\/strong>\u2019s 1997 take (for Telarc) was cut with the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Erich Kunzel; Xuefei Yang<\/strong>\u2019s 2010 rendering (for EMI Classics) had her fronting the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra conducted by Eiji Oue; and Milo\u0161 Karadaglic<\/strong> recorded it (for Deutsche Grammophon) on his 2014 release <\/em>Aranjuez, playing with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Yannick N\u00e9zet-S\u00e9guin.<\/em><\/p>\n

Do you remember when you first heard <\/strong><\/em>Aranjuez<\/strong> and whose version it might have been?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

RUSSELL:<\/strong> My grandmother bought an LP of Narciso Yepes playing it, with the Fantas\u00eda para un Gentilhombre<\/em> [Rodrigo\u2019s 1954 guitar concerto, written for Andr\u00e9s Segovia; it\u2019s often been paired with Aranjuez<\/em> on albums] on the other side. So I heard it as a small child.<\/p>\n

YANG:<\/strong> I probably first heard it when I was teenaged. I can\u2019t remember when or where, but I do know the first time I heard it I was moved, I was touched. It\u2019s one of those pieces that spoke to me the very first time.<\/p>\n

KARADAGLIC:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes, it was by John Williams. I grew up in Montenegro, where we didn\u2019t have access to a huge number of CDs in the \u201990s, and John Williams was a big star in classical music, so his CDs made it across the Adriatic from Italy. It was the Sony release. I think that\u2019s kind of in my mind a little of how the concerto should sound in terms of the clarity. I loved it the first time I heard it, but I didn\u2019t play it until many years later.<\/p>\n

Do you recall when and where you first played it with an orchestra?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

RUSSELL:<\/strong>I don\u2019t actually remember playing it for the first time, but it must have been when I was around 20, finishing my studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London.<\/p>\n

YANG:<\/strong> I was in my late teens. I was quite nervous. I think everyone who plays mostly solo guitar gets nervous before they play with an orchestra\u2014it\u2019s so different. The most important thing, of course, is you have to listen to the orchestra. You can\u2019t just follow the conductor. For example, in the second movement, you can\u2019t just watch the conductor, you have to really listen<\/em> to make it a chamber ensemble. In a lot of places you have to listen to yourself and follow the conductor to interpret the sounds together. The orchestra actually probably has a harder time hearing you. An orchestra is like a big elephant\u2014the conductor makes a motion and it takes a second for the sound to come out. But the guitar is such a quick instrument\u2014you see the [conductor\u2019s] hand come down and you might be quicker than the orchestra, so you have to take all that into account.<\/p>\n

KARADAGLIC:<\/strong> I first played it at the Royal Academy in London in my final year there, with the orchestra of the Royal Academy, and it was one of the scariest experiences of my life! Because it\u2019s one thing to learn all the notes of the Concierto,<\/em> and another to stand in front of an orchestra\u2014so many players\u2014and be able to play it convincingly. As guitarists, we are trained to play soft, but to play a concerto, something happens in your body and you have to learn how to deal with it. The projection is different, the sound is different, the whole feeling and the direction of the music has to be different, so it\u2019s a big adjustment.<\/p>\n

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