Music of Torroba

It's about time! Moreno-Torroba has been absent from catalogue for too long (with the exception of Spain, of course, where one can find recordings of his Zarzuelas (basically Spanish light opera), piano music, etc. David Russell is without doubt a virtuoso - you won't hear wrong notes, string squawking or fret buzzes. However, he tends toward a constant brilliance when at times something more restfully expressive would seem appropriate. I have some familiarity with this music, playing it as well as recording-wise, and I found his tendency to faster tempi a little jarring at times, notably in quiet, laid-back or expressive works like the Burgalesa; the middle portion of the Notturno and the Andante from the Sonatina. David Russell's Burgalesa is simply too strident, the central section pressing and noisy. The middle section of the Notturno has none of the warmth and dreaminess of Bream's early performance (alas, not currently available but I refer to his 1956 recording). Similarly the Andante. On the other hand, Russell's bravura truly brings out the fire in the outer movements of the Sonatina, the Suite Castellana and the Castillos. In summary, this is an excellent disc, worthy of any collection embracing Spanish/Latin guitar music. For all my gripes, I've heard performances, recorded and live, well inferior to David Russell's, and unless you're familiar with the works I singled out in the magical hands of Bream or Segovia, this recording will not disappoint in any way.

David Russell has joined Christopher Parkening as one of my two favorite classical guitarists, but Russell has a much larger repertoire and brings perfect sensitivity and expression to each and every genre. I own every one of his albums that I can acquire.

An exquisite recording of beautiful idiomatic Spanish guitar composition inspired originally by Andres Segovia. Mr Russell is a player of deep sensibility who lifts every piece to a level of beauty in his sensitive expression of the music.

Music of Moreno Torroba  What a wonderful and vibrant stroke of colors which too embraces the ears of pleasure to describe the appeal of ones greater scents.

Probably one of the best things about this recording is that its a great collection of most of Torroba's great solo guitar music. Russell hits all the important pieces and plays them all with flair and accuracy. Russell's playing is very expressive and he tends to capture the esssence of the music. The playing is clean, beautiful and precise. Good tone, dynamic contrast, all the basics that guitar students spend years perfecting. However, Russell does play a little too heavy sometimes. I like to think that if Torroba were playing electric guitar today he would sound a lot like Pat Metheny with a little Spanish flavor. His music should never be too bombastic or heavy. Not to say that Russell never lightens up, but he doesn't always back off when he needs to. Some of the slower, more lyrical Castles of Spain especially aren't as effective as they could be. The other issue about this recording is that the track listing is WRONG! It should go like this:Sonatina for Guitar in A MajorBurgalesaSuite CastellanaCastles of SpainMadronos (Not "Madranos")NocturnoAires de la ManchaBecause of this glich in the track listing, all of the Castles of Spain tracks are off by one track as they are listed on the CD liner. It isn't even correct on David Russell's website.The only other thing that I don't like about this CD is that some of the notes are a little weird. I know that there were differences between Torroba's original manuscript and Segovia's editions of the pieces, but some of the notes are either wrong or different from anything I've ever played from (and from what I remember that Segovia originally recorded). It's only a very minor detail as there may be some note decisions where Russell decided to preserve some original notations by Torroba, and I am always in favor of preserving the composer's original intentions over Segovia's rewrites if possible. It's not overly important, it's merely just a yellow flag to the guitarists out there saying that your edition may be slightly different from what Russell plays.This is a great recording providing interesting contrast to Segovia's original Torroba recordings. While Segovia is the original "performance practice" version of these pieces, Russell's interpretations are for the most part very good. I would recommend listening to Segovia's recordings of Torroba as you would be cheating yourself to only listen to this recording.

I think this recording is very relaxed for the most part. He kind of breezes through these with speed and doesn't take enough time on some pieces but David Russell is the cleanest guitar player around and these recordings are flawless. He lets you hear every note. Burgalesa is an amazingly beautiful, melancholy piece which Sevogia loved. Montemayor is haunting and tremelo is exquisite. Alba de Tormes is a popular and beautiful piece which sounds great. Fandango is probably the most popular piece here which overwhelmingly captures the Spanish feeling and which Segovia recorded extremely well (probably the most famous recording of Fandango) on his "Favorite Spanish Encore" LP and Russell sounds great in this piece, too. I'd rather listen to Russell play these than Yepes, Segovia or the Romeros.

The reviewer "ivorx" has hit the essence of this performance right on. David needs to relax when the music calls for it. Torroba is not an intense composer and needs to flow in a more relaxed state. However, this is a very good CD of great guitar music by one of the guitar's greatest composers. I really wish more of Torroba's guitar concertos would be recorded by quality musicians.

Moreno Torroba is maybe one of the best composers for guitar, unfortunately little known. David Russel brings to life some magnificent pieces with his wonderful tone and phrasing. Impeccable production and sound as well. An absolute must for guitar lovers and a good beginning for those who are not.

This is a superb CD, brilliant from start to finish, its the repertoire combined with the performance, definitely in my top 3 or 4 guitar CDs.

A fine collection of pieces by Torroba, a spanish composer of great tunes played by a guitar master. Lots of refined playing to listen to.

David Russell ist zweifellos einer der besten Interpreten von modernen spanischen Komponisten, aber auch von Renaissance-und Barockmusik. Die Einspielung von Torroba ist eine exzellente Interpretation.

David Russell has a reputation as one of the finest guitar players of the last few decades and this recording is him at his best.

ich sehe nicht ein, dass ich hier noch 200 wörter von mir geben soll. ich habe das Produkt geratet und das muss wohl reichen.