David Russell will be the soloist for the ever-popular Concierto de Aranjuez of Joaquin Rodrigo with the Naples Philharmonic conducted by Erich Kunzel on the next Fretworks.
This performance is from a 1997 Telarc CD I don't think I've used before on the program. Well, it's about time. Today, David Russell is one of the best-known classical guitarists in the world.
Russell was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1953, but his family moved to the Spanish island of Minorca when he was a child. He not only soaked up the Mediterranean sun but also the feeling for the music and culture, beginning studying the guitar while still a child. He later went to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London and went on to win nearly every major guitar award, including the Andres Segovia and Francisco Tarrega Competitions in Spain. When he's not touring around the world, he now lives in Galicia in Northwestern Spain.
Erich Kunzel was for many years the music director of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra and at the time of this recording, the principal pops conductor of the Naples Philharmonic in Florida as well. It turned out to be a happy collaboration here with David Russell, the orchestra, and this great concerto by Rodrigo.
Other music on the program will include guitarist Lynn McGrath, who was in Columbus this past April for a concert presented by the Columbus Guitar Society. She'll perform Asturias by Isaac Albeniz from her CD, titled "de Oro." Finnish guitarist Timo Korhonen will play a couple of transcriptions of music by Richard Wagner from the opera Tannhauser.
Columbus, Ohio born lutenist Paul O'Dette is one of the premier performers of the instrument in the world, and he'll be heard playing some of the Ancient Airs and Dances of Otterino Respighi. Respighi used 16th and early 17th century lute music by various Italian composer of the time to create three orchestral suites in the early 20th century. We'll hear the pieces that makes up Suite No. 2 in their original versions.
Join me for Fretworks Saturday and Wednesday evenings at 7 here on Classical 101.
