COMPOSERS: Rodrigo
LABELS: EMI Classics for Pleasure
WORKS: Concierto de Aranjuez; Fantasia para un gerrtilhombre; Sonata a la espanola
PERFORMER: Ernesto Bitetti (guitar)Philharmonia/Antoni Ros-Marba
CATALOGUE NO: CDCFP 4614 DDD (1987)
As a budget version of Rodrigo's most famous works, this disc is amply recommendable. Bitetti's playing may lack the last ounce of character and the music itself (particularly the solo pieces) may be undemanding and clichéd, but the Philharmonia plays devotedly, the slow movement of the concerto is real heart-on-sleeve stuff and
the dance movements of the Fantasia fizz along. Matthew Rye