Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos wrote his only guitar concerto in 1951 for Andres Segovia, the most famous classical guitarist in the world, originally calling it "Fantasia Concertante."
Apparently, Segovia was not impressed enough with the piece to perform it until Villa-Lobos revised it to include a cadenza and re-titled it "Concerto" in 1956. That seemed to do the trick. Now it's one of the most popular 20th century guitar concertos.
We'll hear the Guitar Concerto of Villa-Lobos on the next Fretworks Saturday evening on Classical 101 with the fine Urugyayan guitarist Eduardo Fernandez and the English Chamber Orchestra.
Italian guitarist Nicolo Spera has recorded his arrangements of three of the Solo Cello Suites of Johann Sebastian Bach on a 10-string guitar. The additional bass strings on his guitar give his performances a greater depth than one usually hears on guitar arrangements of Bach. We'll hear Spera's recording of 4 movements from Cello Suite No. 6 in D.
We'll go to the Italian Renaissance for music of Francesco da Milano performed on the lute by Hopkinson Smith. Born near Milan in 1493, Francesco Canova da Milano was also called "Il Divano" for his heavenly playing. He worked for the papal court for most of his career, becoming a member of the papal household in Rome, first as a private musician to Pope Leo X in 1514. Hopkinson Smith will play Fantasia dal secondo tono and Ricercar dal quinto tono.
The fine guitarist Milos Karadaglic, who hails from the small Balkan country of Montenegro, now travels world-wide with an international career. He'll play music of Mexican composer Manuel Ponce from his CD, "Pasion" to round out the hour, and the program will open with the Manhatten Guitar Duo and their performance of Rondalla Aragonesa by Spanish composer Enrique Granados.
Join me for Fretworks for music of the classical guitar Saturday and Wednesday evenings at 7 on Classical 101.