Falla: Homenaje a Debussy

This CD is a collection of pieces for the guitar by Spanish and Latin-American 20th century composers, including Llobet, de Falla, Asencio and Brouwer. Zaytseva describes the overall atmosphere as one of recollection, which suits the guitar very well. She combines artistry and virtuosity and has received great praise from audiences and critics alike.

A fascinating programme concept, evoking the unique athmosphere of Paris at the beginning of the 20-th century, a melting pot of styles, cultures and trends.

Netherlands Music Prize winner Izhar Elias draws fascinating sounds and colours from his guitar.

Already released by Izhar Elias: Rossini/Giuliani: Semiramide, an arrangement of the opera for guitar solo.

To kick off Fuga Libera’s Debussy year, Jan Michiels has conceived a superb and generous programme to honour the "ultima verba" for piano which Debussy composed during the First World War, and the most significant fragments of the collective tribute rendered to him by some of the masters he had influenced in La Revue musicale of 1920. Apposing his own signature to the cd booklet, Jan Michiels invites us to listen to his wonderful Erard grand piano.

His selection does full justice to the quality of these works which, though less popular than the Préludes and some of the composer’s earlier works, lack nothing in terms of inspiration and insight into the future. The interpolation in the Études – rendered here in full – of the pages by Dukas, Bartók, Roussel, de Falla and Stravinski and the scattered pages signed "Claude Debussy, French composer" between 1914 and 1917, are here particularly compelling: what better tribute could we give this composer on the dawn of the 150th anniversary of his birth?

Works of Manuel de Falla - widely regarded as the most distinguished Spanish composer of the early twentieth century - are strongly influenced by Spanish folk music in which the guitar is central. Although he composed only one piece for that instrument his inspiration was flamenco and early Spanish music, including the guitar works of Gaspar Sanz. The guitar also features in Falla‘s first great success, the opera ‘La Vida Breve’. For this recording, we have selected and transcribed works in which the influence of the guitar was dominant thus translating these pieces back to their original source of inspiration. We felt that adding percussion would enhance the rhythmic element that is most characteristic for the music of Spain. We hope that showing De Falla’s work in this dynamic light will bring new audiences to his brilliant music.

Rythmic elements in exciting arrangements played by specialist DAVID GARCIA MIR.

Starring JUANITA LASCARRO, who made a spectacular British operatic debut as the heroine of Strauss' Daphne and continues to sing the coming season principal roles in many of the major European theatres.

"The twins Peter and Zoltán Katona have created a guitar duo noted for spirited interpretations, amazing virtuosity, and an uncanny ensemble that many attribute to their shared genetic heritage. The brothers from Budapest move and breathe together, and they mark changes of mood with an exchange of glances that highlights their musical decisions. And in their Saturday concert at Herbst Theatre, the Katona Twins united what had once seemed to be the irreconcilable opposites of Bream’s unbridled enthusiasm and Williams’ calm mastery. " SAN FRANCISCO CLASSICAL VOICE, 14 MARCH 2009