Sharon Isbin

The Grammy Award-winning Pacifica Quartet and multiple Grammy-winning guitarist Sharon Isbin join forces for an uncommon album of music for strings and guitar from the Baroque to the mid-20th century. Souvenirs of Spain & Italy is the first joint recording by these renowned artists and marks Isbin’s Cedille Records debut.

The "Baroque Favorites for Guitar" title of this CD implies that it might be a greatest-hits compilation or a collection of tunes aimed at newcomers to classical music, and the presence of the not-really-Albinoni Adagio among the contents reinforces this impression. In fact, it is nothing of the sort. It is the product of a long study on Isbin's part (of course, this isn't the kind of detail the marketing department is looking for!), study that has resulted in quite distinctive music making. The album includes mostly transcribed concertos, with a few solo works.

Sharon Isbin - Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez und Spanische Gitarrenstücke
Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra / Hideomi Kuroiwa
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 162 MB | Full Artwork: 32 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Denon "This is Classic" # DEG-10024 | Country/Year: Germany 1994
Genre: Classical | Style: Spanish Guitar, Early 20th Century, Romantic

"Described by the Boston Globe's Michael Manning as a musician who plays "beyond virtuosity," guitarist Sharon Isbin has been a consistent challenge for critics, who struggle to find the right superlative that would do justice to her exquisite playing. "In her hands," wrote Anne Midgette in The New York Times, "the guitar takes on the precision of a diamond, each note a clear, shining facet that catches, prism-like, a glimpse of the spectrum." In essence, a performance by Isbin is like a painting by Vermeer: a formally impeccable and inexhaustible work of art."

"Artist portrait" is a beautifully arranged bouquet of Sharon Isbin’s “best”. In this album, she has combined in a single CD Baroque, Latin music, Folks songs, and modern concerti commissioned by the artist. Mrs. Isbin has created the guitar department at Julliard School of Music, she has commissioned more concerti then any other guitarist, has won a Grammy, has written the Classical Guitar Answer Book to mention just a few of her outstanding accomplishments.

Manuel Barrueco, Sharon Isbin, Thibaut García, Eliot Fisk etc.

Manuel Barrueco, Sharon Isbin, Thibaut García, Eliot Fisk etc.