Boccherini: Guitar Quintets/String Quartet - Mauro Occhoniero,

Boccherini: Guitar Quintets/String Quartet - Mauro Occhoniero, Fabio Biondi, Europa Galante

Boccherini's works for guitar were all originally composed for other instruments; he later transposed them for a guitar-playing client. There are no real virtuoso turns, therefore, but what we do get is the composer's usual fluid, melodic sense, with the guitar adding a Spanish flavor and a catchy, strong rhythmic underpinning. This is most prominent in the terrific, famous Fandango which closes the D major quintet--which gets a toe-tapping performance without ever degenerating into rambunctiousness--and the final movement of the C major, called "La ritirata di Madrid" (The Procession [or "retreat"] from Madrid). This latter is a set of twelve variations depicting a street band's approach and retreat at night in Madrid, with a slow, quiet build-up and a correspondingly measured de-crescendo, as if the procession were fading into the distance. It's a wonderful piece. Between the two guitar-centered works is a plain old string quartet, which is anything but; it contains all of Boccherini's niceties, such as off-the-beat pulses and exquisite lyricism. All of the playing on this CD, under the direction of Fabio Biondi is superb, with the period instruments generating an ideal tonal balance among themselves. --Robert Levine
Country USA
Manufacturer EMI Classics
Binding Audio CD
ItemPartNumber 724354560729
UnitCount 1
Format Classical
UPCs 724354560729
EANs 0724354560729
ReleaseDate 2004-02-10

Country	USA
Manufacturer	EMI Classics
Binding	Audio CD
ItemPartNumber	724354560729
UnitCount	1
Format	Classical
UPCs	724354560729
EANs	0724354560729
ReleaseDate	2004-02-10

Boccherini: Guitar Quintets/String Quartet - Mauro Occhoniero, Fabio Biondi, Europa Galante

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