Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS CONTACT:
James Scileppi
KOCH Entertainment
516-484-1000 x243
james.scileppi@kochent.com

KOCH International Classics proudly releases Concerto Barroco

Performances by guitarist Manuel Barrueco

Featuring Concierto Barroco and Folías by Roberto Sierra, Fratres by Arvo Pärt and two arrangements of concertos by Vivaldi

(TK, Port Washington, NY) – KOCH International Classics is proud to announce the release of a disc of music performed superstar guitarist Manuel Barrueco, his first appearance on the label. The repertoire will include two works written for him by the internationally renowned composer Roberto Sierra: Concierto Barroco and Folías, plus an arrangement of Estonian master Arvo Pärt’s sumptuous, ecstatic Fratres and two arrangements of concertos by Antonio Vivaldi.

Based on a moment in Cuban author Alejo Carpentier’s novel Concierto Barroco, Roberto Sierra’s piece of the same name depicts a “jam session” in Venice between Scarlatti, Handel, Vivaldi, and a slave called Filomeno who accompanies the baroque masters on percussion played with cooking utensils. After he composed this piece—a single-movement phantasmagoria on neo-baroque notions—he enjoyed doing it so much that he wrote Folías, a set of variations on a Spanish tune, as a companion piece.

Arvo Pärt’s Fratres is given a powerful reading by the fearless Barrueco, who daringly assays the works “tintinabular” whizzing scales and arpeggios, capturing both its quiet mysticism and its searing fire. Between these works, the palate cleansers are two Vivaldi Concertos—in D major and C major—powerfully transcribed for guitar and orchestra.

Manuel Barrueco is one of the world’s leading lights of guitar playing, evincing a sound which is both lyrical and full of fire, a seductive colorist of the highest order. His in-demand abilities as a soloist have landed him engagements in the most important centers of musical activity on the world stage, including recent appearances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Baltimore Symphony, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony and the Auckland Philharmonia in New Zealand. He has also completed nine tours of Japan, and made recent appearances in New York, London, Chicago, Munich, Madrid, Barcelona, Milan, Rome, Athens, Seoul, Singapore and Hong Kong, among others.

He has completed well over a dozen recordings for the EMI label, including a performance of Joaquín Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez led by Placido Domingo (which Classic CD Magazine named the work’s best available recording), and a record called Nylon and Steel, which features duets with the likes of Al Di Meola, Steve Morse (of Deep Purple) and Andy Summers (of The Police). His most recent release, entitled Cuba, was hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as “…an extraordinary musical achievement.”

The Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, brilliantly conducted by Víctor Pablo Pérez, is in perfect form to handle this wide swathe of a program. They are able to match Barrueco’s many moods, acting not only as an accompanying body, but equal—and potent—musical partner. Barrueco himself describes their playing on the difficult Vivaldi pieces as containing “…verve, joy, and a sense of style.”

For more information on Mr. Barrueco and the composers and works featured on this disc, or to request a review copy, please contact James Scileppi at 516-484-1000 x 243 or james.scileppi@kochent.com.

(Ordering information is available through the discography page.)

For Immediate Release: February 2001

CLASSICAL GUITAR MASTER MANUEL BARRUECO JOINS FORCES WITH THREE JAZZ/ROCK LEGENDS FOR 'NYLON & STEEL'

Historic cross-genre recording features duets with famed guitarists Al Di Meola, Steve Morse, and Andy Summers

Renowned Cuban-born classical guitarist Manuel Barrueco adds another amazing twist to his eclectic Angel Records legacy with the release of Nylon & Steel on May 22. The once-in-a-lifetime cross-genre recording features duets by Barrueco with legendary Jazz/Rock guitarists Al Di Meola, Steve Morse, and Andy Summers, bookended by two solo pieces performed in Barrueco's inimitable classical acoustic style. Barrueco and his cohorts complement eight original compositions with songs written by Brazilian composers Ernesto Nazareth and Celso Machado, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Stanley Myers ("Cavatina," the theme from the film The Deer Hunter), and Aaron Copland. As the recording title indicates, all guitars played by Barrueco are nylon string, and those played by his partners are steel string.

Barrueco's career has been marked by both unique stylistic swings and brilliant collaborations. His most recent recording, an homage to his homeland called "Cuba!" was called "an extraordinary achievement" by the San Francisco Chronicle, while his recording of Joaquin Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez with conductor/tenor Placido Domingo and the Philharmonic Orchestra was noted as the best recording of that piece in Classic CD magazine. Other recent recordings are Cantos Y Danzas, which includes collaborations with soprano Barbara Hendricks and flutist Emmanuel Pahud, Three Solo Sonatas by Bach, and Manuel Barrueco Plays Lennon & McCartney.

This same freewheeling creative desire gave birth to Nylon & Steel, which reflects Barrueco's lifelong love of guitar dynamics and other genres like Jazz and Rock n Roll. The original idea for the project grew from a Guitar Summit tour in 1995-96 which teamed Barrueco with Morse (best known for his associations with Deep Purple and Dixie Dregs), Jorma Kaukonen from Jefferson Airplane), and Jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell. Once they realized they could merge their seemingly incongruous styles, Barrueco and Morse toured together in 1997. Barrueco first met Al Di Meola at the Klavier Sommer Festival in Munich, and met Andy Summers (a Rock legend from his days with The Police, currently a popular instrumental Jazz star) at a concert the two did with famed Beatles producer Sir George Martin at the Hollywood Bowl.

"Years ago, I would have been afraid or too closed-minded to attempt a project like Nylon & Steel," says Barrueco. "But over time, I've become more open to experimenting, and enjoyed the challenges of combining classical guitar with these different playing styles. I was thrilled when all three agreed to participate. There is definitely an element left to chance. What is our common ground? The main thing to discover was our feeling for the other's style and music. Once we found that, everything exceeded my initial expectations. We mixed outside familiar tunes with our originals to create a comfort zone that would help us better approach the new pieces."

Barrueco performs three original tracks with Di Meola -­ "Beyond the Mirage", "Azzurra", and "The Grand Passion" -­ which are followed by five pieces pitting Barrueco's cool acoustic classical strings against Morse's powerful, often distorted Rock edges. Two of these duets with Morse are originals written by Morse ("Northern Lights," "Up in the Air"), "Cavatina" is the lyrical theme from The Deer Hunter, "Without Sunglasses (Sense Ulleres de Sol)" was written by Victor Valls, and "Wolvesville" is a piece by Heitor Villa-Lobos, arranged by Morse and Barrueco. This latter song was originally created as an improvisation on Etude No. 1 by Villa-Lobos. "If you listen to just my channel, you hear a classical piece, and if you listen to Steve's, it's a Hard Rock improvisation," says Barrueco.

Barrueco performs three pieces with Summers ­- "Mysteries of the Slow River (Misterios do Rio Lento)", composed by Celso Machado, and the Summers originals "I Remember" and "Crow at Midnight". Bookending the eleven duets are the opening piece "Odeon" (by Brazilian composer Ernesto Nazareth) and a new arrangement of Aaron Copland's "Rodeo", both performed by Barrueco as solo pieces.

"I look upon Nylon & Steel as this fantastically successful experiment which allowed me to trip a little bit and step into other worlds," says Barrueco. "There were times when I thought it would be hard to keep up with these amazing players. Al is known for his blazing speed and technique, and I thought the first time we jammed that an ambulance should be waiting for me outside! But once we settled in, I marveled at how they helped me stretch as a player to places I had never been. The music here is much more rhythmic than the usual material I play, and I really had to push myself to capture the feel of the music. We're all guys at the tops of our respective fields doing something completely fun and original. We all had a blast."

Barrueco has played under conductors such as Seiji Ozawa, Franz Welser Most, and David Zinman, and this year he will appear with Kent Nagano and the Berkeley Symphony, Leif Segerstam and the Helsinki Symphony, and Lawrence Foster with the Barcelona Symphony. Other highlights of the 2000-2001 season include appearances at New York's Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center and performances in Madrid, Munich, Milan, Athens, and Tokyo, during his 9th tour of Japan. He also appears every year in San Francisco as part of an ongoing residency with San Francisco Performances.

© Capitol Records

EMI CLASSICS RELEASES A SUPERLATIVE RECORDING OF RODRIGO'S CONCIERTO DE ARANJUEZ FEATURING GUITARIST MANUEL BARRUECO, CONDUCTED BY PLÁCIDO DOMINGO

DOMINGO SINGS FOUR SONGS, SOME OF WHICH APPEAR ON DISC FOR THE FIRST TIME

Hailed by critics as "the undisputed crown prince of the present guitar dynasty" Manuel Barrueco's versatility and an insatiable passion for exploring the guitar repertoire have set him apart as a "superior musician" (The New York Times), inspiring an entire generation of guitarists and reaching out to an ever-broader audience world-wide.

Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez [CDC 5 56175 2], is a stunning disc of music by Rodrigo including the famous Concierto de Aranjuez with internationally renowned tenor Plácido Domingo conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra. This disc, which also includes Fantasia para un gentilhombre, two pieces for solo guitar, and four songs performed by Domingo with Barrueco on guitar (Coplillas de Belén, Pastorcito Santo, Adela from Three Spanish Songs, and Coplas del Pastor Enamorado), is a fascinating collaboration between two Spanish-speaking artists and will be available on EMI Classics November 11, 1997.

The two solo guitar works in comparison are intimate and gentle, and beautifully written for the instrument. The songs, some of which will be available for the first time on this EMI Classics disc, are surprisingly melancholy, but the combination of guitar and tenor voice is an unusual one and Plácido Domingo, singing in his native Spanish, brings these delicate miniatures really to life. The Concierto de Aranjuez is one of the best loved of all concertos, and the combination of Manuel Barrueco's expressive but subtle playing, Domingo's ability to make the orchestra phrase and sing in an almost vocal way and both artists' instinctive grasp of the Spanish idiom will ensure that this new release becomes a memorable and treasured disc in the EMI Classics catalogue.

Born in Santiago de Cuba, Barrueco began playing the guitar at the age of eight, keenly alert to the rhythmic colour and life-affirming energy of the popular Cuban and Latin American music that filled the city's streets. Exposure to classical music came through the open windows of a nearby conservatory and from the first note Barrueco knew he wanted to be a musician.

Barrueco's artistry is unassailable and his supreme command of the repertoire will be well demonstrated at his Wigmore Hall concert in London on November 28th 1997 in a programme of music of JS Bach, Schubert, de Falla, Rodrigo and the Cuban composer Angulo. However, his excursions into other fields - jazz, folk, world music and pop - is no less considerable and has won him an audience as diverse as his abilities. Gramophone described his playing as "deeply sensitive, his tone unfailingly clear and beautiful with warmth and vitality", while The New York Times felt it "would undoubtedly have made Segovia smile".

An exclusive artist with EMI Classics, Barrueco's numerous recordings for the label have earned him the accolade of "the best classical guitarist on the planet" (Audio) and his discography which already includes Albeniz, Bach, Mozart, Villa-Lobos, de Falla and Granados which will be re-released November 11, 1997 at midprice was recently augmented by the release of a disc of Bach's three sonatas for solo violin transcribed for guitar by Barrueco himself (released August, 1997).

Plácido Domingo was born in Madrid and grew up in Mexico. A long standing EMI Classics artist, his extensive discography includes Boito's Mefistofele, Gounod's Faust, Puccini's Tosca, Saint-Sans' Samson et Dalila, and Verdi's Aida, Un ballo in maschera, Don Carlos, Ernani, La forza del destino, Giovanna d'Arco and Otello. He remains in demand as one of the world's best-loved and respected performing artists. Familiar with recording music in his native tongue, his first recording of popular Latin American songs, De mi alma latina - From my Latin soul, was released in August 1995. Inspired by his lifelong love of Latin American music, this ground-breaking album has been a huge hit with his followers, and has already sold over one million copies worldwide. A second Latin Album was released in 1997 and achieved gold status on day one in Colombia. In 1996 the legendary tenor also celebrated 25 years of performing at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, with a special gala concert on December 12. This event was recorded live by EMI Classics, and released under the title Gold and Silver Gala in March 1997.

Through their performances on this new EMI Classics release, Barrueco and Domingo, two of the most distinguished artists in their fields, reveal the many facets of the personality of this famous composer. Featuring some of Rodrigo's best-loved compositions as well as previously unrecorded songs, the disc is a keenly awaited addition to the EMI catalogue and is destined to be enjoyed by critics and public alike.