Art of Segovia
DG has put together a fascinating compilation of Segovia's art that reminds us what a protean figure he was. Segovia single-handedly put the instrument on the map by making classical guitar concerts popular events, broadening the instrument's repertory through commissions and transcriptions, and convincing even doubters that it could be a vehicle for serious music. He's heard here in brief pieces recorded between 1952 and 1969. Even in those made when he was well into his 70s, his fingers remain nimble and interpretations lively.  Listening straight through, one hears many all-time Segovia favorites as Turina'sSevillanaand Albeniz'sAsturiasandZambra Granadinaand renews appreciation for path-breaking composers like Castelnuovo-Tedesco. He wrote extensively for Segovia and hisCapriccio diabolicoandTonadillaare pieces of real substance. Disc two is largely made up transcriptions and it's amazing how well so many of them work on the guitar, at least under Segovia's magic fingers. Thus the transformations of Bach's violin music and even a Chopin Prelude sound idiomatic, and the gorgeous melodies of theCanzonettafrom Mendelssohn's Op. 12 String Quartet are irresistible here. An entrancing set.--Dan Davis