COMPOSERS: Rodrigo Ponce Villa Lobos
LABELS: Warner
ALBUM TITLE: Sharon Isbin
WORKS: Concierto de Aranjuez
PERFORMER: Sharon IsbinNew York Philharmonic OrchestraJose Serebrier
CATALOGUE NO: 2564 60296 2
Joaquín Rodrigo seems to have been
fairly free with his endorsements.
‘A new recording of my guitar works
is always a source of satisfaction,’
he claimed. ‘But in the case of
this young Spanish performer,
that satisfaction becomes delight.
Marco Socías offers a profound and
emotional journey through some
of my most emblematic works...’
About Sharon Isbin, who here
presents her second recording of
the Concierto de Aranjuez, Rodrigo
was equally enthusiastic: ‘I am
enchanted by the magnificent
interpretation of my works by the
splendid guitarist Sharon Isbin.’
Even a composer of the renown
of Rodrigo likes to be performed,
and it probably wasn’t a bad idea
to let more than one player believe
they had his special imprimatur, but
such even-handedness does make it
difficult to say whether any account
of this old warhorse was in any sense
an ‘approved’ version. However, I
have no doubt Rodrigo would have
enjoyed Isbin’s latest reading, and
most listeners will, too. Her playing is not entirely free from mannerism
– stuttering slightly towards the
beginning, sudden rubatos in the
Adagio – but there is an agreeable
expansiveness to both her and the
New York Philharmonic’s playing
under José Serebrier. Fortes are
given full, generous measure. A
sweeping optimism seems to power
the performers along – as much
in the lesser-known concertos by
Villa-Lobos and Ponce as Rodrigo’s
centrepiece. As a benchmark, try
the aforementioned Marco Socías.
There is something more of Classical
restraint in his approach – but who’s
to say what the composer really
wanted. Christopher Wood