Rodrigo Concierto de Aranjuez. Fantasia para un gentilhombre. Carlos Bonell (gtr) Montreal Symphony Orchestra / Charles Dutoit.

Decca (Full price) (CD) 400 054-2DH. From SXDL7525 (7/81). Also issued as (Cassette) KSXDC7525.

The digital LP of this coupling is exceptionally cleanly recorded, with a refreshingly realistic balance of the solo guitar—its tone not (as so often) amplified to an unnatural extent; and with the absolutely silent background of the Compact Disc the recording is even more striking. Carlos Bonell plays the cadenza of the Adagio of the Concierto de Aranjuez (the one movement of any musical substance in a work which spends most of its time, like mr Micawber, hoping for something to turn up) most sensitively, and the weight of the orchestral contribution is judged to a nicety throughout. The small details JD criticized in the performance of the Fantasia do not worry me in view of the overall excellence of the playing (particularly that of the orchestra); and though the work may be less showy for the guitarist than Aranjuez, it is musically more rewarding, if only because Sanz's thematic invention (if the tunes really were his) was superior to Rodrigo's.

LS