BaL 18.02.17 - Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez

[Petrushka]

I bought my one and only version on LP back in 1977, Pepe Romero with Previn and the LSO (nla by the look of it) but ended up strongly preferring the Fantasía para un gentilhombre that was on Side 2! Not heard either piece for very many years.

Would be more interested in Richard Tarleton's recommendation for something like this.

[Richard Tarleton]

I'll be giving this one a miss!

Oi! BBM! This is the Concerto de Orange Juice you're talking about!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Oi! BBM! This is the Concerto de Orange Juice you're talking about!

Yes. Unfortunately there are now people who think "Aranjuez" is Spanish for orange juice.

[Richard Tarleton]

I bought my one and only version on LP back in 1977, Pepe Romero with Previn and the LSO (nla by the look of it) but ended up strongly preferring the Fantasía para un gentilhombre that was on Side 2! Not heard either piece for very many years.

Would be more interested in Richard Tarleton's recommendation for something like this.

Thanks Pet - actually I'm the last person to attempt a comparison because I've heard so few of the contending versions. I just have a great fondness for those whom Cali terms the "sacred beasts", tho I'm not sure how I'd fare in a blind tasting. I also have a preference for traditionally built guitars (will Tom McKinney mention instruments?) over the ones favoured by John Williams in latter years and played these days by the likes of Milos, Xuefei Yang et al.

I'm with you on the Fantasía - based on tunes by the 17th century Gaspar Sanz - I never tire of that.

[Alison]

In my ignorance I thought this was a work that more or less played itself with not much scope for interpretative variation.

So I will definitely be listening. I've not really taken to Tom mcK's presentational style but here's a chance for him to make his mark.

[visualnickmos]

In my ignorance I thought this was a work that more or less played itself with not much scope for interpretative variation.

So I will definitely be listening. I've not really taken to Tom mcK's presentational style but here's a chance for him to make his mark.

Quite. I have a feeling it will be a BaL with surprises and fresh insights..... listen to this wavelength.

[Beef Oven!]

In my ignorance I thought this was a work that more or less played itself with not much scope for interpretative variation.

So I will definitely be listening. I've not really taken to Tom mcK's presentational style but here's a chance for him to make his mark.

Same here. I must listen attentively. A work that pretty much eludes me beyond superficial listening. Miles Davis and an old Decca that skips my mind (can’t be bothered to look on the shelves) are the only recordings that I have.

[verismissimo]

... Tom McKinney has still not explained inventing a Bream quotation on his RR review of the Williams box set, so I'm not sure if I'm speaking to him at the moment.

Me too, sir. Shocking! Mind you, I've never spoken to him at all.

[Richard Tarleton]

Me too, sir. Shocking! Mind you, I've never spoken to him at all.

I've just re-sent my email from last March to RR to jog their memory. I'll let you know if I hear anything

[Richard Tarleton]

Same here. I must listen attentively. A work that pretty much eludes me beyond superficial listening. Miles Davis and an old Decca that skips my mind (can’t be bothered to look on the shelves) are the only recordings that I have.

Decca - not Bream or Williams then

[BBMmk2]

Same here. I must listen attentively. A work that pretty much eludes me beyond superficial listening. Miles Davis and an old Decca that skips my mind (can’t be bothered to look on the shelves) are the only recordings that I have.

I'm giving it a miss. Very much like you say Beefy, very much plays by itself.

[Beef Oven!]

Decca - not Bream or Williams then

Yes, Desmond, I believe.

[oddoneout]

Blimey!
Well - I don't often spin this one, but it is a fine composition. I've heard a few versions, and they range from wonderfull, to b****y awful!
Yepes on Decca with Argenta conducting the "Spanish National Orchestra" can't recall the exact name without delving, is my choice - so far!

So come on - give the guy a chance! ( that said, I really do have to be in the mood)

"Spanish National Orchestra" - The National Orchestra of Spain. I have my father's LP of this, which he must have acquired not long after it came out. The label suggests the recording is 1959, and the pairing (Fantasia para etc with de Burgos)...) is 1963, coming together in 1972.
It is inevitable I suppose that first hearings make an impression that can be hard to change, but for all the performances/recordings I've heard subsequently I still come back to this one. I prefer something with passion and even perhaps a few rough edges - the technically - even exquisitely- perfect John Williams approach for instance just doesn't do it for me. There needs to be an edge, the shock of lemon juice to cut through the sweetness.

[Richard Tarleton]

"Spanish National Orchestra" - The National Orchestra of Spain. I have my father's LP of this, which he must have acquired not long after it came out. The label suggests the recording is 1959, and the pairing (Fantasia para etc with de Burgos)...) is 1963, coming together in 1972.

Here's Yepes playing it on his custom-built cedar-topped 10-string Ramirez guitar, with de Burgos, in 1963. AFAIK he only had this made around then, and started playing it in 1963, so if your recording is earlier it may be on a 6-string? Yepes' 10 string provoked quite a lot of discussion.... Let's see, as I said above, what TMcK has to tell us about the various instruments. Bream preferred his Hauser, Bouchet and Romanillos guitars, tho' the discography mentions both a Ramirez and a Bouchet being present at the 1964 recording with the Melos/Colin Davis

Yepes first played the Rodrigo in 1947, so like Julian Bream, Ida Presti, John Williams etc. knew it over a lifetime.

[oddoneout]

Here's Yepes playing it on his custom-built cedar-topped 10-string Ramirez guitar, with de Burgos, in 1963. AFAIK he only had this made around then, and started playing it in 1963, so if your recording is earlier it may be on a 6-string? Yepes' 10 string provoked quite a lot of discussion.... Let's see, as I said above, what TMcK has to tell us about the various instruments. Bream preferred his Hauser, Bouchet and Romanillos guitars, tho' the discography mentions both a Ramirez and a Bouchet being present at the 1964 recording with the Melos/Colin Davis

Yepes first played the Rodrigo in 1947, so like Julian Bream, Ida Presti, John Williams etc. knew it over a lifetime.

Interesting. Does that mean that the CD version I have of the 1969 recording - Orquestra Sinfonica with Odon Alonso - might use the 10 string instrument? There is a reference to it in the notes but not to say whether that is what's been used.