Classical Guitar » Monday Motivation

Irina Kulikova plays Tedesco

Christopher Davis — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 13:00:20 +0000

Yesterday’s post about competition winners included a video of a piece by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. Naturally, I was sucked into Youtube for a chunk of time and came across this video of Tedesco’s concerto in D major. The soloist is Irina Kulikova. If you like what you hear, check out Irina’s Guitar Recital CD from Naxos.

Irina Kulikova plays Tedesco from Classical Guitar

Ana Bragina plays Sergej Rudnev

Christopher Davis — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 13:02:09 +0000

Today we feature Ana Bragina performing Lipa vekovaia (Old lime tree). Rudnev is more of an arranger in this case: the piece is a variation set on on a Russian folk song. Matanya Ophee wrote a short article about this piece, including an old recording of it being sung. It’s worth it to have a listen to both.

Sergej Rudnev Himself

Thanks to Heike Matthiesen for the heads up about this video.

Ana Bragina plays Sergej Rudnev from Classical Guitar

Daniel Murray plays Villa-Lobos

Christopher Davis — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 13:00:10 +0000

Today we feature Daniel Murray performing Villa-Lobos’ seventh etude. I really enjoy the rubato and color in Daniel playing.

Daniel Murray plays Villa-Lobos from Classical Guitar

The Dublin Guitar Quartet plays Philip Glass

Christopher Davis — Mon, 23 May 2011 12:39:06 +0000

The Dublin Guitar Quartet with Philip Glass (middle)

The Dublin Guitar Quartet is Brian Bolger, Pat Brunnock, David Creevy and Tomas O’Durcain. They specialize in contemporary music, and the Philip Glass arrangement in the video below even garnered some praise from the composer:

This is a very special arrangement. Arranging for guitars is a very tricky business and you really have to know what you are doing, so I have never done it, but Dave Flynn and Brian Bolger have made these arrangements and they’re really quite beautiful.
-Philip Glass

If you like what you hear, there’s another movement (and some other videos) on the quartet’s Vimeo page and their recording, Deleted Pieces, is available on Amazon.

This piece, Mishima, was originally for string quartet.

The Dublin Guitar Quartet plays Philip Glass from Classical Guitar

Martha Masters plays Scarlatti [Monday Motivation]

Christopher Davis — Mon, 16 May 2011 15:45:06 +0000

One of the coolest things happening in the guitar world today is the use of online video. A week ago, Lynn McGrath gave a concert that was streamed live. This video from Martha Masters is from a concert given on April 29th. She plays a Sonata (K. 208) by Scarlatti.

I hope we see more of this: very recent videos and artists updating their youtube channels more frequently. It certainly makes putting together Monday Motivation posts easier.

Martha Masters plays Scarlatti [Monday Motivation] from Classical Guitar

James Piorkowski plays Francesco Corbetta [Monday Motivation]

Christopher Davis — Mon, 09 May 2011 14:00:21 +0000

I’ve been working on a project that involves a lot of early music listening. While poking around youtube, James Piorkowski playing Francesco Corbetta’s Caprice de Chaconne popped up in a search result. If you like the piece, check out James’ arrangement or head over to his website.

James Piorkowski plays Francesco Corbetta [Monday Motivation] from Classical Guitar

Kevin Loh plays Michael Chapdelaine [Monday Motivation]

Christopher Davis — Mon, 02 May 2011 14:20:52 +0000

Today we feature Kevin Loh playing a Beau Fleuve by Michael Chapdelaine.

Kevin Loh plays Michael Chapdelaine [Monday Motivation] from Classical Guitar

Jerome Ducharme in (Virtual) Concert [Monday Motivation]

Christopher Davis — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 13:33:48 +0000

Last week, the Wichita guitar society had Jerome Ducharme, the 2005 GFA Competition Winner. But they also let the world see his concert: Chained Sky Studios webcast the entire thing. That concert is embedded below (there will be some ads, sorry). Jerome is a really oustanding player. I saw him when he was on his GFA Winners tour a few years ago.

The video recording here is not outstanding, but the sound is okay.

Jerome Ducharme in (Virtual) Concert [Monday Motivation] from Classical Guitar

Asya Selyutina plays Nikita Koshkin [Monday Motivation]

Christopher Davis — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 08:00:34 +0000

Today we feature Asya Selyutina performing a Without a Landscape by Nikita Koshkin. This piece is from the set Da Capo and is available from Editions Orphee.

Asya Selyutina plays Nikita Koshkin [Monday Motivation] from Classical Guitar

Julian Bream plays Richard Rodney Bennett

Christopher Davis — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 14:10:48 +0000

Whenever I listen to (or play) Richard Rodney Bennett’s music for guitar, I’m always impressed by the range. Bennett was not afraid to demand a lot of the performer in terms of both dynamic and musical range.

Here is Julian Bream playing the second movement from Richard Rodney Bennett’s Sonata for guitar. Bennett is an interesting composer, worth a listen. In addition to writing chamber works, symphonies, operas, and choral works, he’s also a film composer.

Julian Bream plays Richard Rodney Bennett from Classical Guitar