CD

The Art of Segovia (DGG, two CDs). For much of the twentieth century, Andrés Segovia was the world’s best-known guitarist, and his concerts and recordings played a key role in re-establishing the guitar as a classical instrument. Alas, he kept on playing far too long for his own good, and by the time of his death in 1987 at the age of ninety-four, his reputation was in eclipse. This two-disc set, a fabulously well-chosen anthology of Segovia’s greatest hits drawn mainly from the recital albums that he recorded for Decca in the Fifties, provides ample proof that he was every bit as good as his reputation. It contains guitar solos and transcriptions by (among others) Albéniz, Bach, Falla, Rodrigo, Roussel, Scarlatti, Tárrega, Torroba, and Villa-Lobos, all played with the grandly romantic sweep and impeccable technique that he commanded in his prime (TT).