{"id":9875,"date":"2018-05-11T15:24:37","date_gmt":"2018-05-11T22:24:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/?p=9875"},"modified":"2018-08-23T16:24:42","modified_gmt":"2018-08-23T23:24:42","slug":"recent-album-releases-celil-refik-kaya-duo-tandem-and-aloysius-leeson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/recent-album-releases-celil-refik-kaya-duo-tandem-and-aloysius-leeson\/","title":{"rendered":"Recent Album Releases: Celil Refik Kaya, Duo Tandem, and Aloysius Leeson"},"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 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>
\n\"\"
\nGuitar Music of Carlo Domeniconi<\/strong><\/em>
\nCelil Refik Kaya<\/strong>
\nNaxos<\/p>\n

Composer Carlo Domeniconi (b. 1947) is Italian but he has spent much time in Turkey in his life and been inspired by that country’s music and culture; indeed, his best-known work, the four-part\u00a0Kuyunbaba Suite<\/em>\u00a0(1985), is deeply infused with the musical character of the Anatolian peninsula. I think it’s fair to say that it has become one of the most popular modern works for solo guitar, and deservedly so. It’s probably going too far to say that that the gifted young Turkish guitarist (and composer) Celil Refik Kaya<\/a>, was “born to play” Kuyunbaba<\/em>, but it’s certainly the case that growing up in Istanbul likely exposed Kaya to the sorts of Turkish folk influences that are in play in the Domeniconi piece; more so than if he had been raised in the UK. At any rate, he does a truly splendid job on this beautiful, mysterious, and hypnotic piece (especially that virtuosic “Presto”). It’s 20 years since John Williams’ spellbinding version came out (on The Guitarist John Williams)<\/em>; Kaya’s assured rendering certainly deserves to be mentioned in the same breath.<\/p>\n

The other major work on the album, Domeniconi’s five-part Don-Quijote-Suite<\/em> from 2005 (inspired by the Cervantes story, of course), was new to me, and it, too, is a wonderful and complex piece. Not surprisingly, it gives the composer the opportunity to delve into some rich Spanish flavors\u2014especially in the introductory first section, which has a courtly, Spanish Renaissance feeling in parts, and in the third movement, Aventuras<\/em>, which is partly imbued with Spanish\/flamenco qualities. But there’s much more going on in this profound character study. In the many quieter passages, you can hear the doubt, disappointment and resignation in Don Quixote as he nears the end of his life, and in the final movement, “Transfiguration y muerte,” we are witness to the gradual ebbing of his once-vibrant lifeforce and perhaps even the last beats of the old man’s heart; what a deeply evocative work it is!<\/p>\n

There’s much<\/em> more to discover here, including several other pieces that explicitly take us back to Turkey, and one based on a Japanese folk song. I highly recommend you check out this album!<\/p>\n

Koyunbaba Suite, Op. 19; Schnee in Istanbul (Snow in Istanbul), Op. 51; Schneeschmeize (Melting Snow), Op. 51a; Uzun Unce bir Yoldaym<\/em>\u00a0(Veysel, arr. Kaya); Improvisation in makam H\u00fcseyni<\/em> (Kaya); Variations on an Anatolian Folk Song, Op. 15<\/em>; Taqsim, Op. 106<\/em>; Minyo (Variations on a Japanese Folk Song, Op. 50d)<\/em>; Don-Quijote-Suite, Op. 123<\/em><\/p>\n

Kaya’s Domeniconi album can be heard and purchased through iTunes and Apple Music<\/a>, Amazon<\/a>, and Naxos<\/a>, and streamed on Spotify<\/a> and YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n