In a career that’s lasted more than half a century, Pepe Romero has proven himself to be an important part of the classical guitar’s 20th-century revival. With a prodigious, flamenco-based technique, his intense and raw performances are celebrated here in a generous 11CD box set, covering the greater part of the Spanish guitar repertoire. 

If you’re looking for the less Spanish-influenced music that was to appear in the guitar repertoire in the 1960s and 70s (Britten’s Nocturnal, perhaps?), then this definitely isn’t the place. A solid five CDs here are devoted to the guitar repertoire from Spain, but then again Romero’s at his very best in repertoire that’s written in a modern, yet lyrical style. He particularly shines here in performances of the music of Joaquín Rodrigo and Federico Moreno-Torroba, and it’s refreshing that it’s not only these composers’ big hits that are included. Of especial note is Rodrigo’s Invocación y Danza, perhaps his greatest composition. It’s written in an entirely different style to his sunny concertos, and is instead a dark and almost destructively powerful rumination on the music of fellow Spaniard Manuel de Falla. Romero’s performance here is stirring stuff indeed, showing the guitar in its best light.

Other discs in the set include fine performances with the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields and Neville Marriner, both at full strength for concertos by Italian classicists Carulli, Molino, and Giuliani, and in chamber form for quintets by Boccherini. In a similar fashion to the Spanish composers, it’s not just the favourites that show up here. How many other prominent guitarists have recorded a commendable eight out of the nine Boccherini quintets, rather than just the rather irritatingly overplayed No 4 in D Major (Fandango)?

This excellent box set covers a remarkable range of music, and would make an ideal introduction to the classical guitar’s impressive core repertoire.

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