Craig Ogden – Guitar Works by Lennox and Michael Berkeley (2004/2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 56:23 minutes | 1,82 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Chandos
The guitar music of Sir Lennox Berkeley and Michael Berkeley reflects in part their family’s close friendship with guitar virtuoso Julian Bream, whose lyrical performance style notably influenced the father’s Sonatina, Op. 52/1 (1957), and the Sonata in One Movement (1982), and the Impromptu (1983) by the son. Yet the elder Berkeley’s guitar works also show the manners and techniques of other guitarists, most clearly Andrés Segovia in the flamboyant, Spanish-flavored Pieces (4) pour la guitare, Op. posth. (1928), and Angelo Gilardino in the more subdued Theme and Variations, Op. 77 (1970). Michael Berkeley’s music is more abstract, tailored less to performers’ styles than to technical possibilities and motivic manipulation. As a result, his Lament (1979), Worry Beads (1979), and the even the Sonata are fairly rarefied and perhaps not immediately gratifying, even though his tonal melodies and clear harmonies are easy to grasp. Craig Ogden performs the Berkeleys’ works with spontaneous expression, clean articulation, and a virtuosic flair all his own; yet he plays off Segovia’s and Bream’s characteristics just enough to convey how their distinctive personalities colored the works written for them. Chandos provides fine sound, though the venue’s resonant acoustics surround Ogden with a slight aural haze.
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Craig Ogden – Craig Ogden in Concert (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:15:16 minutes | 1,21 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Chandos
Described by BBC Music Magazine as “A worthy successor to Julian Bream”, the Australian-born guitarist Craig Ogden is one of the most exciting artists of his generation. He studied guitar from the age of seven and in 2004 became the youngest instrumentalist to receive a Fellowship Award from the Royal Northern College of Music. He has performed concertos with many of the world’s leading orchestras and numerous composers have written works specially for him. Despite a diverse and extensive discography, Craig Ogden had never made an album based on his regular recital repertoire. This latest album consists of pieces he regularly plays in concert and includes a wide variety of music, spanning three centuries. Offering both transcriptions and original works, it is all music that he loves to play, and a programme that reflects the wonderful diversity within the repertoire of the modern classical guitar.
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