BBC Classical Guitar Special @MusicMagazine

The monthly BBC Music Magazine has a CLASSICAL GUITAR SPECIAL issue for  February 2016. Miloš Karadaglić who has just released his latest recording – Blackbird: The Beatles Album – is interviewed by Rob Ainsley: ‘ENTER THE GUITAR: Miloš Karadaglić is at the vanguard of a group of young classical guitarists giving a fresh and much-needed lease of life to…

15-year-old classical guitarist Junhong Kuang gives New York Recital

The challenging programme for Junhong Kuang’s first full-length recital in New York on Friday 11 December 2015 gives an idea of this remarkable 15-year-old Chinese guitarist’s abilities: Suite Española by Gaspar Sanz, Chaconne from Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004 by J.S. Bach (arranged by Xu Bao), Introduction and Variations on a Theme by…

Paco de Lucía Tribute – @BarbicanCentre 9 December 2015

A special Tribute concert: Paco de Lucía – Beyond the Memory featuring the musicians that Paco de Lucía worked with closely throughout his life, will be held at the Barbican, London on Wednesday 9 December 2015 with the original members of the Paco de Lucía Sextet: flautist/saxophonist Jorge Pardo, bass player Carles Benavent, percussionist Rubem Dantas (with whom Paco de Lucía introduced the cajón 35…

Julian Bream Trust Concert 2015 – Julian Anderson première

A NEW WORK FOR SOLO GUITAR, Catalan Peasant with Guitar by the British composer Julian Anderson, will be premièred by Laura Snowden at the annual Julian Bream Trust Concert to be held on Saturday 21 November 2015 at Wigmore Hall, London. Julian Bream is continuing his legacy of expanding the contemporary classical guitar repertoire by commissioning…

Blogging about Flamenco – My Flamenco Diary

My Flamenco Diary was established on Posterous on 8 July 2009 after an inspirational concert and interview of Pepe Habichuela at the Barbican in London. Posterous closed down on 30 April 2013 and so I moved My Flamenco Diary to WordPress. Before I had to say farewell to Posterous, I decided to have a look at the statistics from My…

Los Romeros & Munich Symphony US tour Joaquín Rodrigo’s Guitar Concertos

The legendary guitar quartet of Los Romeros will be touring the USA throughout November 2015 with the Munich Symphony, conducted by Philippe Entremont, performing three guitar concertos: Concierto andaluz and Concierto de Aranjuez by Joaquín Rodrigo and Concierto de Málaga by Celedonio Romero. Known as ‘The Royal Family of the Guitar’, the quartet of Los Romeros was founded by Celedonio Romero…

British Guitar Music premières Kings Place 30 October 2015

INTERNATIONAL GUITAR FOUNDATION (IGF) continues its long-standing project of commissioning and performing new works for guitar solo and in chamber ensemble, with the première of Spook  by Anna Meredith (b. 1978) and Six Songs for Solo Guitar by Howard Skempton (b. 1947), played by Tom Kerstens and the G Plus Ensemble: the guitarist Adam Brown, the percussionist Karen Hutt…

Classical Guitar Recordings – Gustavo Leguizamón: Pablo Márquez

EL CUCHI BIEN TEMPERADO – THE WELL-TEMPERED CUCHI is a recording of music by Gustavo Leguizamón, arranged and performed by Pablo Márquez for ECM, produced by Manfred Eicher. A quick glance through the titles of the 17 tracks shows that the Argentinian composer, Gustavo ‘Cuchi’ Leguizamón (1917–2000) has written each of the pieces in familiar rhythms: zambas, chacareras, cuecas…

Classical Guitar recordings – Schubert (Re)inventions: Ensemble Paladino

SCHUBERT (RE)INVENTIONS by the Ensemble Paladino is a double-CD which surprisingly contains some première recordings of Lieder for soprano and guitar by Franz Schubert (1797–1828) from Franz von Schlecta’s manuscript, published recently in a facsimile edition by Stefan Hackl and Erik Pierre Hofmann. The first CD features arrangements of Schubert’s chamber music, although the Notturno in D major for guitar, flute, viola…