Contrastes by Esteban Colucci

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Sonata Nº2, written in 1969, is a neglected masterpiece of the guitar repertoire that has remained hidden in the shadow of its brilliant predecessor, sonata Nº1, written two years before, mostly due to the enormous difficulty of its performance and its intimate and deep character.

Máximo Diego Pujol

Born in Buenos in 1957, Máximo Pujol is one of the Argentine composers that has gained more recognition and popularity in the last years. Rewarded for his work as a performer and composer, his work frequently combines elements of Tango and River Plate music with the formal techniques of classical music.

Even though Elegía is among his early works, it possesses a perfect guitar writing, taking full advantage of the technical and expressive resources of the instrument.

Štěpán Rak

Born in 1945, the Czech guitarist and composer, Štěpán Rak, is one of the most original and innovative figures that the world of the classic guitar has provided in the last years.

His first studies in plastic arts had a remarkable influence on his compositions that, sometimes, seem to transcend the instrument itself and achieve the sound of an orchestra. This is made evident in his Sonata Mongoliana (1986) that tells the story of a mythical Mongol horse. The work, which is extremely virtuoso, uses various instrumental techniques, in many cases Rak’s own innovations, thus accomplishing a magnificent sonorous picture.

Čtyři Kusy are four short pieces for clarinet and guitar where each movement evokes by contrast some aspects of folk music

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco

The music included in this recording ends with a work by the Italian composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, born in Florence in the year 1895, a disciple of Ildebrando Pizzetti, and then considered, together with personalities like Ottorino Respighi or Gian Francesco Malipiero, as one of the most promising figures of his generation.

Ecloghes op.206, written in the year 1966, is one of his last and less known works (Castelnuovo-Tedesco died two years later) . The subtleties in tones achieved by the composer thanks to the use of an uncommon instrumental combination – flute, English horn (or clarinet) and guitar – allow him to offer a colorful picture where bucolic and nostalgic elements (1st and 3rd Movements) alternate with the lively “Tarantella” of the 2nd Movement and the peasant-like gaiety, sometimes ironical, of the last movement, that describes the dialogues of a country scene with an infinite range of nuances.

Esteban Colucci

Esteban Colucci was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1979. He began his musical studies at the age of 5 at the Collegium Musicum of Buenos Aires and then entered the Conservatory of Music “Manuel de Falla” where he studied with Víctor Villadangos and Javier Bravo. He graduated with the highest grades.

He has given concerts as a soloist and also as a member of various chamber groups in a great number of theatres in the city of Buenos Aires as well as in the rest of the country and in Europe.

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