Rodrigo's Fantasy for a Gentleman on Fretworks

Joaquin Rodrigo wrote his Fantasia para un Gentilhombre for Andres Segovia in 1954, and apart from the Concierto de Aranjuez, is the most popular music featuring guitar that he composed. The Fantasy for a Gentleman is a suite for guitar and orchestra based on music of the 17th Century guitarist Gaspar Sanz.  Pepe Romero will be the soloist with the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields.  The melodies are ingratiating and the orchestral treatment Rodrigo provides makes this piece a highlight of the next Fretworks broadcast Saturday evening at 7. Paul Galbraith will perform on his 8-string guitar for Songs of La Mancha, Federico Moereno Torroba's set of five evocative Spanish pieces that were probably written for Andres Segovia as well, although as far as we know, Segovia never played them in public. Also on the program, a sonata for mandolin and guitar by 18th Century mandolin player and composer Gabriele Leone.  Born in Naples, he was active in Paris in his later years where he was considered probably the greatest mandolin master at the time.  We'll hear Swedish guitarist Goeran Soellscher with the Camerata Bern for a perennial favorite, the Guitar Concerto in D (originally for lute) by Antonio Vivaldi. Join me for an hour of the classical guitar, and some mandolin this week, on Fretworks on Classical 101. http://youtu.be/ycUBO644EDo