 La présente publication de l’œuvre pour guitare (et pour quatuor de guitare) en cinq CD de l'espagnol Federico Moreno Torroba est en fait une intégrale pour guitare solo. On y trouve seulement deux cahiers écrits pour quatuor sur les quatre. L'ensemble est impressionnant et peu destiné à être écouté à la suite sans risquer la monotonie. Commençons par les deux beaux quatuors "Estampas" et "Rafagas" savamment écrits pour les quatre instruments qui génèrent de beaux échanges polyphoniques. Pour ce qui est des pages pour guitare seule, on apprécie la volubilité du guitariste mais on goûte moins les nombreuses fluctuations rythmiques qui émaillent son jeu. De plus les quelques pièces tendres tristes ou mélancoliques sont ici nimbées d'une grisaille qui convient assez peu à ce répertoire plutôt solaire (Faute à une prise de son lacunaire ?). Angelo Colonna est plus à l'aise dans les nombreuses danses populaires qu'il sait varier avec brio. Les quelques anthologies signées David Russell (Telarc) ou Norbert Kraft (Chandos) présentaient une plus grande diversité d'expression. Ces quelques réserves ne gâtent en rien l'intérêt que présente cette somme que l'on dégustera de façon aléatoire sur son lecteur préféré. (Jérôme Angouillant) Although not a guitarist himself, Federico Moreno-Torroba struck up a friendship with Andres Segovia in the 1920s, which in turn inspired several of his finest works such as the Sonatina (1924) and Piezas características (1931) are among his finest works. Born in Madrid in 1891, Moreno Torroba was a major figure in Spanish music of the last century, flourishing in spite of the political and social upheavals that surrounded him. His music has been described as ‘castizo’, employing elements of folk and art music which are of a distinctly Spanish character. His works for the guitar above all others display a fidelity to Spain’s heritage, but his musical palette was not limited to strict folklorism, owing something to the music of Debussy, Ravel, Franck, Wagner and, in later years, Bartók. The Puertas de Madrid and the Suite Castellana translate the people and landscapes of Spain into evocative tonepoems, but there is a great deal of no less attractive, typically Spanish writing in apparently abstract works such as the collection of Eight Preludes. Like his longlived contemporary Joaquin Rodrigo, Moreno-Torroba builds a bridge between landscape and soundscape. The Sonatina is a modern classic of the guitar repertoire, but many pieces on this comprehensive collection are hardly known and currently unavailable in the record catalogues such as the four Rafagas on CD2, composed for guitar quartet. The collection closes with Moreno Torroba’s most extensive guitar work, the boldly formed and reflective Sonata-Fantasia, written in the tradition of similar works for piano by Chopin and Scriabin. The Italian guitarist Angelo Colone has won particular acclaim for his performances and recordings of music by his countrymen such as Gilardino and Petrassi, but he is also an accomplished advocate for the works of Spanish and Latin American composers. Having recorded this unique collection between 2016 and 2019, he also contributes a booklet essay full of personal insight into the world of Moreno Torroba.
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