Composer: Agustín Barrios
Performer: Thibaut Garcia
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Erato
Catalogue: 5419772617
Release: 2023
Size: 1.39 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. Un sueño en la floresta
02. Aire de zamba
03. Mazurka appassionata
04. 24 Preludes, Op. 28: No. 20 in C Minor (Arr. Barrios Mangoré for Guitar)
05. Una limosnita por el amor de Dios
06. Maxixe
07. Danza paraguaya No. 1
08. Vidalita con variaciones (And Reading of Poem “El Bohemio”)
09. Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 27 No. 2 “Moonlight”: I. Adagio sostenuto (Arr. Barrios Mangoré for Guitar)
10. Las abejas
11. Julia Florida
12. Villancico de Navidad
13. Vals, Op. 8 No. 3
14. Vals, Op. 8 No. 4
15. Confesión “Romanza”
16. Choro de saudade
17. Profesión de fé
18. Preludio en do menor
19. Kinderszenen, Op. 15: No. 7, Träumerei (Arr. Barrios Mangoré for Guitar)
20. La Catedral: I. Preludio saudade
21. La Catedral: II. Andante religioso
22. La Catedral: III. Allegro solemne
23. Caazapá
Thibaut Garcia pays tribute with El Bohemio to the Paraguayan guitar virtuoso and composer Agustín Barrios (1885-1944). As Garcia explains, “Barrios is an essential composer in the guitarist’s repertoire. His music can be described as a skilful mix of South American popular music – inspired by the jungles of Paraguay – and the Romanticism of Chopin and Schumann, composers he idolised.” El Bohemio duly complements 16 varied works by Barrios himself with three of his transcriptions of famous pieces by Chopin, Schumann, and Beethoven. In addition, the album includes readings of two of Barrios’s poems: ‘Bohemio’, which lends the album its name, portrays the composer as a wandering troubadour; ‘Profesión de fé’ (Profession of faith) honours the Guarani, the indigenous people of Paraquay.
Although John Williams recorded a wonderful album of it in the 1990s, the guitar music of Agustín Barrios has been underexposed except for a few pieces that turn up as encores. This is a shame, for his music is not really like that of any other Latin American guitar composer. It embodies a deep fusion of vernacular music with European influences, and it has an unusual religious strain. The vernacular influences heard on this superb release by guitarist Thibaut García include not only broadly popular dances like the waltz, the mazurka, and the Brazilian maxixe but also specifically Paraguayan folk music. Transcriptions of Chopin, Beethoven, and Schumann break up the program, and one of Barrios’ most famous pieces, the three-movement, Bachian La Catedral, stands at the album’s pinnacle. The religious works are both instrumental and spoken, and there is one piece that incorporates Barrios’ own poetry, with the titular poem read by Orlando Rojas. There is a certain mood of mystery that adds an X factor to Barrios’ music, and it is intensified here by the inclusion of a 1928 recording of Barrios himself. His playing seems reflected in García’s own, and that is truly all to the good.