{"id":8874,"date":"2018-01-18T14:32:27","date_gmt":"2018-01-18T22:32:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/?p=8874"},"modified":"2018-08-23T16:36:53","modified_gmt":"2018-08-23T23:36:53","slug":"recent-albums-from-thanos-mitsalas-duo-silb-and-composer-randy-hathaway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/recent-albums-from-thanos-mitsalas-duo-silb-and-composer-randy-hathaway\/","title":{"rendered":"Recent Albums from Thanos Mitsalas, Duo Silb, and Composer Randy Hathaway"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most weeks we take a peek at recent albums or sheet music releases. Here are three of the CDs that have come into the\u00a0Classical Guitar<\/em>\u00a0office recently.<\/p>\n

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

Classical Guitar
\n501 Canal Blvd. suite J
\nRichmond, CA 94804-3505<\/p>\n

Some of the albums we talk about online will be reviewed in the magazine, some not. But we want to at least mention most of them here. You can listen to some of these on various of 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, so check your favorite places that sell CDs and downloads!<\/p>\n

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

\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u2014Blair Jackson<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
\nTribute<\/strong><\/em>
\nThanos Mitsalas<\/strong>
\nClear Note<\/p>\n

Two different albums by Greek guitarist Thanos Mitsalas have crossed my desk this year (the other was\u00a0S\u00e9rgio Assad: Chamber Works for Guitar and Strings<\/em><\/a>), and both showcase a formidable guitarist with excellent taste in 20th and 21st century repertoire. A mellifluous and meticulous player, Mitsalas excels here on a pair of pieces by Rodrigo (including his exciting, highly nationalistic late work\u00a0Un tiempo fue italica famosa<\/em>, written in 1980 and dedicated to Angel Romero); two movements of Piazzolla’s suddenly ubiquitous Estaciones Porte\u00f1as<\/em> (extra points for choosing the gorgeous, less-played Invierno Porte\u00f1o<\/em>!); “Variations” on Scriabin and the traditional Folia de Espa\u00f1a<\/em>\u00a0by Tansman and Llobet, respectively; Simone Iannerelli’s Tribute to Keith Jarrett<\/em>, which somehow manages to sound like one the American jazz pianist’s improvisations; and, perhaps not surprisingly, a recent work from\u00a0 S\u00e9rgio Assad, the brilliant three-movement\u00a0Sandy’s Portrait<\/em> (2013), with its transcendently gorgeous “Prelude,” Bach-inspired “Passacaglia,” and closing “Toccata” which, Assad writes in the album notes, “is a free concept of the toccata form, with a slow middle section inserted, rather unusually, into the very energetic and fast outer sections.” Wonderful!<\/p>\n

The album closes with what is labelled as an “Encore piece” (which begs the question: why?): a poignant version of Andrew York’s popular By Candlelight<\/em>; a nice choice to top off a consistetly outstanding program.<\/p>\n

Tiento Antiguo<\/em> (Rodrigo); Variations on the Theme of ‘Folia de Espa\u00f1a’<\/em> (Llobet); Variations on a theme of Scriabin<\/em> (Tansman); Un tiempo fue italica famosa<\/em> (Rodrigo); Primavera Porte\u00f1a<\/em> (Piazzolla); Invierno Porte\u00f1o<\/em> (Piazzolla); Tribute to Keith Jarrett<\/em> (Iannerelli); Sandy’s Portrait<\/em> (S. Assad); By Candlelight<\/em> (York)<\/p>\n

The album can be previewed and purchased through CDBaby<\/a> and iTunes\/Apple Music<\/a>, bought from CD Universe<\/a>, and heard piecemeal on YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n