With some of us counting the days until we jet off to Mediterranean beaches, the release of the Arada Guitar Duo's new album invites the rest of us to welcome a little continental sunshine into our living rooms.
Aptly titled Mediterranean, the CD contains works, largely unknown, by Greek, Spanish and Italian composers of the 20th Century. And a somnolent and mellow grand tour of sunny regions this is. It's not all easy background listening by any means, with some fine works by Giorginakis, Fampas, Decorti, Petit (I left out French) and the better known Castelnuovo-Tedesco and Rodrigo.
Simon Davies and Nicholas Lee pronounce it trippingly on the fingers, with a melodious and expressive flow of works, some previously unrecorded and all as written – no transcriptions or arrangements here.
Panaghiri comes from Kiriakos Giorginakis' suite Greek Memories. It's a dazzlingly lively way to start things, foot-stamping and very Greek. In contrast, his Song without Words, one of the album's world premiere recordings, is a moody adagio and Therismos, which closes the programme, evokes a sleep-filled haze of Summer days.
Bach's influence lurks beyond the golden façade. Castelnuovo-Tedesco, the prolific Italian writer for the guitar, actually wrote his own set of 24, The Well-Tempered Guitars, and two of the Prelude and Fugues are played here, as well as the lovely lilting three-movement Sonatina Canonica of 1961.
The best-known composer represented, Joaquin Rodrigo's familiar style pervades Tonadilla, a form related to the Italian intermezzo. Lively and slyly seductive by turns, it has all the showy brilliance of his more famous pieces. Pierre Petit's Tarentelle trips hypnotically before lapsing into a dreamlike reverie, while Claudio Decorti's Arabesque ripples, weaves and blooms with delightful effect.
Together as a duo since 1992, Davies and Lee studied with Gordon Crosskey, John Williams and Craig Ogden. This is their second album on the Landor label; the previous, Grand Duo, consisted of 19th Century works by the likes of Napoleon Coste and Fernando Sor.
The current album, in excellent sound, covers a wide range of moods, and the playing displays much care and affection. If you're looking for something a little unusual and uplifting to see you through the Summer months, you could hardly do better than this.
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