RODRIGO : Sonata Giocosa; Tres Pequenas Piezas; Invocacion Y Danza; Tres Piezas Espanolas; En los Trigales :Junto al Generalife; Elogio de la Guitarra.
Marco Socias
Opera Tres: 1027 : CD
Malaga – born Socias here recorded what is possibly one of the best Rodrigo compilations I have ever heard. Every guitarist who has tried these pieces out knows just how difficult it is ever to get some of them under your fingers at any speed, let alone the correct one, but here Socias manages to give them his absolute all in every way.
Witness the opening movement of the Sonata Giocosa, which from the outset is exactly the speed that you imagine Rodrigo would have wanted, but one you rarely get at that speed. You get it here! The extremely difficult chords are effortless, the exacting runs that often elsewhere sound a little careful, here just go for it, for Socias appears to have no technical difficulties whatsoever with this repertoire.
The Tres Pequenas Piezas, is a set I have managed never to have seen on paper, or heard before which is surprising to me. There are of course plenty of places where Rodrigo’s ‘wrong note style ‘comes to the fore here, which Socias takes in his stride.
The famous Invocacion y Danza is an oft – recorded work, but this version here is definitely one of the best I have heard, as is the Tres Piezas Espanolas, the Fandango of which was made so popular decades ago by John Williams with his groundbreaking performance. Socias gets very close to it, and at times has the edge in my opinion.
Indeed every one of these pieces shows the composer and the performer at their absolute best, and I can thoroughly recommend this for any Rodrigo lovers out there. The sound is clean and close and there is absolutely nothing to criticize about this groundbreaking album.
Chris Dumigan
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