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One could shower this album with superlatives, and still not quite convey how amazing it is. John Williams always has shown himself preeminent among guitarists in both his techniqual abilities, and the intelligence and musical taste he shows in his interpretations. Even among all the excellent guitarists now before the public, this artist has a special distinction. This recording represents Mr. Williams at the height of his artistic powers, addressing music that can become formidably difficult with both precision and emotion.
As a former guitar teacher who has spent more than 30 years with the instrument, I can say with some confidence that Mr. Williams is simply the best of performers working today with this repertoire. He makes the difficult passages sound easy, infuses meaning and poetry into sections that otherwise would sound naive or pedestrian, and generally makes something special out of each piece.
Andres Segovia once said of Williams that "God has laid a finger on his brow." Listening to this recording, you will see how this is no overstatement. You also will hear the guitar played in a way that you only may have imagined it could be.
Reviews with images
Exquisite CD
John Williams is certainly the best Barrios performer I ever heard in my life. This CD is simply marvelous in any sense you can imagine.If we examine the technical aspect, John is a perfect player. The notes sound clearly, no matter whether he's playing fast or slow, playing just one string or all the six in a chord that extends over 7 frets.If we examine by the artistic point of view, John is able to dive deeply in the author's intentions and feelings and bring us up a rich emotional spectrum.For example: in "Preludio en Sol Menor", John plays Barrios with a strong Bach accent. In fact, Bach has strongly influenced Barrios' compositions, but other performers generally didn't bring this mood to their performances.In "La Catedral", John performs brilliantly. He plays on the first string so perfectly that we almost hear the notes as harmonics.In "Sueno en la Floresta", his tremolo transports us to the Jungles of Paraguay, we can almost smell a jungle's atmosphere.Barrios is one of the most difficult composers to play, and John Williams was able to understand his music and translate it into this splendid CD.
