Los Angeles Guitar Quartet – Opalescent (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Los Angeles Guitar Quartet – Opalescent (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 57:25 minutes | 1,05 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © LAGQ Records

Dedicated to the memory of Australian composer Phillip Houghton, it features his piece “Opals”, as well as works by Tilman Hoppstock, Robert Beaser, Kevin Callahan, Frederic Hand, and Michael Hedges. It opens with “Hidden Realm of Light” by former LAGQ member Andrew York.

The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, achieving remarkable consistency since its founding in 1980, has established its own LAGQ label and has exceeded its own high engineering standards. Credit goes first of all to producer Steve Rodby and co-producer William Kanengiser on this 2022 release Opalescent; the guitar sound from Cammilleri Hall at the University of Southern California, is absolutely exemplary. It’s a good thing, too, for the program on Opalescent is all about subtle layering effects and guitar sounds. All of the music is new and is written for the guitar quartet except for the late Michael Hedges’ Aerial Boundaries, and Hedges was a virtuoso guitarist whose music adapts easily to the quartet. The music hovers between classical and jazz, with a dash of Hedges’ New Age sounds. Toward the classical end is the five-movement Suite Transcendent of Tillman Hoppstock, a performer and scholar who, intriguingly, composes music under the name Allan Willcocks — not just a pseudonym but an invented historical personage. The Suite Transcendent is something of a neo-Impressionist work, with expert writing for the guitars. The album title comes from that of a work by guitarist/composer Phillip Houghton, the evocative three-movement Opals. Houghton also contributes the fascinating Wave Radiance at the end. The music is highly varied, and even though most of it is similar as to idiom, the program is consistently interesting. Once again, those who record guitars should hear this as a guide to how it’s done.

Tracklist:

1-01. Los Angeles Guitar Quartet – Hidden Realm of Light (02:30)
1-02. Los Angeles Guitar Quartet – Alki Point (04:00)
1-03. Los Angeles Guitar Quartet – Aerial Boundaries (05:33)
1-04. Los Angeles Guitar Quartet – Opals: I. Black Opal (02:25)
1-05. Los Angeles Guitar Quartet – Opals: II. Water Opal (04:33)
1-06. Los Angeles Guitar Quartet – Opals: III. White Opal (03:07)
1-07. Los Angeles Guitar Quartet – Chorale (06:25)
1-08. Los Angeles Guitar Quartet – Chaconne (12:01)
1-09. Los Angeles Guitar Quartet – Suite Transcendent: I. Open Landscape (02:24)
1-10. Los Angeles Guitar Quartet – Suite Transcendent: II. La Grande Cathedrale (01:43)
1-11. Los Angeles Guitar Quartet – Suite Transcendent: III. A Breath of Wind (01:16)
1-12. Los Angeles Guitar Quartet – Suite Transcendent: IV. La Porte Du Ciel (02:47)
1-13. Los Angeles Guitar Quartet – Suite Transcendent: V. Danza Diabolica (02:18)
1-14. Los Angeles Guitar Quartet – Wave Radiance (06:16)

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