Impressions: Works by Manuel Maria Ponce (2009)

The Sonata meridional and several other compositions by Mexican composer Manuel Ponce are staples of guitar recitals, but here's a release that takes you a bit deeper into the circumstances under which Ponce's guitar music took shape. Ponce, who went to Paris for studies with Paul Dukas, enjoyed a long, creative partnership with guitar pioneer Andrés Segovia, furnishing most of his guitar works (and all of those heard here except the short Appendix Variations from Cabezón used as interludes) for concerts in which Segovia ... Read More

The Sonata meridional and several other compositions by Mexican composer Manuel Ponce are staples of guitar recitals, but here's a release that takes you a bit deeper into the circumstances under which Ponce's guitar music took shape. Ponce, who went to Paris for studies with Paul Dukas, enjoyed a long, creative partnership with guitar pioneer Andrés Segovia, furnishing most of his guitar works (and all of those heard here except the short Appendix Variations from Cabezón used as interludes) for concerts in which Segovia played them as premieres. The Sonata meridional is a compact, exceptionally attractive fusion of impressionism, Spanish rhythms, and counterpoint, with the latter a bit more emphasized in the readings of Montreal guitarist Patrick Kearney than in Segovia's own performances. Kearney includes works that show other facets of the Ponce-Segovia partnership, including the sinewy Thème varié et Finale, a technically difficult piece, probably the most harmonically adventurous of the set, and... Read Less