Albéniz: Cadiz (from Suite Española, Op. 47)

Rosa Antonelli evokes the memories of Latin sounds for her second recording on Albany Records. Born in Argentina, Ms. Antonelli enjoys an active and varied performance career. She has been hailed as a leading exponent of Spanish and Latin American music, which she has performed to audiences around the world in extensive tours that have taken her to Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America and North America. Trained at the National Conservatory in Buenos Aires, she was also a participant in the International University Music Program in Santiago de Compostela where she received the Rosa Sabater Award for her interpretation of Spanish music. Her first recording on Albany Records, Esperanza-Sounds of Hope, received critical praise as did her New York debut at Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall, where Harris Goldsmith wrote that her “…inward poetry forced me to rehear, and revalue Piazzolla’s Tangos, which she infused with an eloquence and inner communication…”

Another welcome reissue from Neil Smith, one of Britain's finest classical guitarists. He plays guitar music by Niccolo Paganini, Mauro Giuliani, Fernando Sor and Isaac Albéniz, introducing in these performances a number of his own improvisations, a lost feature of the romantic era.

Paganini was the greatest of violin virtuosi but he was also a master guitarist and composer for the guitar. The Grand Sonata has three movements: a bold Allegro Risoluto then an exquisite Romanza and finally a set of variations marked Andantino Variato.

Giuliani’s Variations Op 107 are taken on a theme by Handel, known generally as ‘The Harmonious Blacksmith’. Fernando Sor’s Les Adieux is just one of a number of pieces reflecting on losses during his lifetime. Albéniz’s Cadiz has the jaunty air of a seaport whereas Torre Bermeja reflects on the images of the great crimson towers of The Alhambra in Granada as multitudes of notes imitate the Moorish decor.

To follow his critically-acclaimed album Sonidos Latinos, award-winning guitarist David Russell explores the music of Isaac Albéniz. Albéniz’s influence on the future of Spanish music was very profound, and transcriptions of his music have become an important part of the repertoire of the classical guitar.

David Russell is recognised worldwide for his mastery of the Spanish guitar repertoire. His new CD features distinctive works by the composer Isaac Albéniz, including movements from the critically-acclaimed “Doce Piezas Caracteristicas” and the picturesque “Cantos de España” to enchanting Gypsy-inspired dances like the “Zambra Granadina”. Suite Española No. 1 of 1886 is among the earliest of Albéniz's characteristic compositions. Albéniz composed the seven musical postcards of his Recuerdos de Viaje ("Souvenirs of a Journey") in Madrid in 1886-1887 in the styles of traditional Spanish dances. Rumores de la Caleta ("Murmurs of La Caleta"), which refers to the popular beach in the historic centre of the ancient city of Cádiz, is modeled on the malagueña, a gently swaying dance that originated in Málaga.

Winner of the 2005 Grammy® Award for Best Instrumental Soloist, Scottish-born guitarist David Russell is internationally renowned for his superb musicianship and inspired artistry. Russell has appeared regularly at prestigious halls in main cities, such as New York, London, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Madrid, Toronto or Rome. Since 1995, he has recorded exclusively for Telarc International, with whom he has recorded 16 CDs, among them the Grammy® award winning Aire Latino. Named a Fellow of The Royal Academy of Music in London in 1997 (where he is now also Visiting Professor), Russell has also won the Medal of Honour from the Conservatory of the Balearics, along with numerous international competitions, including the Andrés Segovia Competition, the José Ramírez Competition and Spain's prestigious Francisco Tárrega Competition. He has had a street named after him in Es Migjorn, the town in Minorca where he grew up, and after winning the Grammy®

Award, he received the Silver Medal of Nigrán, the town in Northern Spain where he lives. Both of David Russell’s last two Telarc albums, Sonidos Latinos and For David were awarded Editor’s Choices in Gramophone.