John Williams is an eloquent performer, and the collection of works on this disc is a pleasing sampling of his skills and the classical guitar repertoire, originally recorded for a television concert. Not only does it cover a range of periods, from Baroque to contemporary, but also composers from different countries, giving the listener a taste of guitar music beyond the most frequently heard Spanish works. Of course, those are here, too: a movement from
Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez and Albéniz's Sevilla and Asturias. A few more Albéniz transcriptions were added to the original album's program for this "expanded edition." It is impressive how
Williams is able to subtly color his playing in so many different ways. Particularly in pieces like the
Vivaldi concerto, where there are many repeated figures, he is careful to shade each one separately, and yet he maintains a sense of an overall shape to the movement at hand. The same is true in the Sakura Variations, which uses the odd koto-like gesture. As wonderfully as he plays everything on the disc, those variations, the darkly humored Usher Waltz, and the beautiful Sueño en la Floresta -- all written for the guitar -- stand out in contrast to the other, more familiar works in the program, which are mostly transcriptions. These pieces are all tonal, but use intriguing harmonies and take advantage of the guitar's capabilities by using effects such as the twanging of a string or playing in harmonics. It's that mix of the familiar and unfamiliar and
Williams' insightful playing that make this disc truly satisfying.