Guitar
Contents listed after review
Erik Möllerström (guitar)
Swedish Guitar Trio
Asa Lindström (flute); Per-Ola Claesson (cello)
rec. 1978-92. Venues not provided
Sterling CDA 1874-76 [3 CDs: 223]
Erik Möllerström (1940-2021) was born in Stockholm to parents originally from Norrkoping. His early experiences with music included participation in a jazz band, playing the banjo. However it was after attending concerts by Andrés Segovia and Gunnar Lif that his deep and lasting interest in the guitar had its genesis. This was an era when practically no one taught the guitar, and Segovia was the solely recognized international virtuoso; only a handful of players could play to similar concert standards.
Möllerström took lessons from Gunnar Lif and also Roland Bengtsson. These he supplemented with tutelage from Eduardo Sainz de la Maza, in Barcelona. His career and reputation grew as he assumed important teaching positions, and became a concert artist, not only in Europe but also in North and South America. He was also active in the Swedish Guitar Trio with Jörgen Rörby and Göran Wiström.
Erik Möllerström is not a name well-known internationally by guitar aficionados, in fact most will not have heard of him. While one could conjecture as to all the possible reasons contributing to this, the first track of CD1 may offer some insight. Recuerdos de la Alhambra requires a high level of technical skill to execute well, especially because it is ideally played slowly. Even virtuosi, such as Laurindo Almeida, failed to master this technique, playing with a lumpy, uneven sound. On this occasion, the tremolo playing represents some of the worst on these recordings, and is both lumpy and uneven. Möllerström fares modestly better with Campanas del Alba, the required tempo being a little faster. To evoke the title, the tremolo needs to be very smooth, which in this case it is not.
Most of the remaining solo guitar music on this disc is played with a rather ‘naily’ tone and an overall metronomic feeling. The tracks on which Möllerström is accompanied by flute are the highlights of the disc, especially the most attractive arrangement of Bach’s Air from Orchestral Suite 3, by Regino Sainz del Maza.
CD2 is the more entertaining because it includes some popular, lighter music: compositions by Scott Joplin and Stanley Myers, supported with perennial favourites such as Schubert’s Moment Musical No 3. The arrangements here are for guitar trio, and played by Mollerstrom. Jörgen Rörby and Göran Wiström. In other tracks, Möllerström is supported by cellist Per-Ola Claesson.
Disc 3 is dedicated to 49 didactic works of Fernando Sor. While it is true that in his most famous 1945 publication, Twenty Studies for the Guitar by Fernando Sor, Segovia cherry-picked from the large number of studies Sor wrote for the instrument, he did so with a combination of excellent musical taste and steadfast preoccupation with technical development. The studies on this disc are taken from Opus 35 (24) and Opus 60 (25). This selection totally avoids those studies, such as Opus 6 Nos 6, 11, 12 and Opus 29, Nos 23 and 13, the latter of which is absolutely stunning, and all of which Segovia included in his edition. These represent the apogee of musical beauty combined with didactic excellence, and are often viewed as ‘sorting the men from the boys’. Some of the studies here are played atypically slowly, and a metronomic impression persists. That said, the attention to accuracy of note execution is impressive.
In the past several decades the guitar has made monumental strides, both technically and musically Technical virtuosi are too numerous to mention, and musicianship is on par with other string players, keyboard and wind musicians. While those early virtuosi, such as Julian Bream, John Williams, José Luis Gonzalez, and of course Andrés Segovia, will always hold a place of excellence in the annals of the guitar, the playing on these discs is dated, and historical interest is its key virtue.
Zane Turner
Previous review: Göran Forsling (November 2024)
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Contents
CD 1 (CDA 1874)
Francisco Tárrega (1852-1909)
- Recuerdos de la Alhambra
- Capricho Árabe,
- Lagrima
- Adelita
- Marieta
- Mazurka en sol
- Pavana
Juan Pernambuco (1883-1947) - Romance d’amour,
Eduardo Sainz de La Maza (1903-1982) - Cancion del Lladre
- Habanera
- Campanas del Alba
Isaac Albeniz (1860-1909) - Leyenda
Jack Mattson (1954-2007) - Morgonrodnad
Agustin Barrios (1885-1944) - Villancico de Navidad
Ulric Neumann (1918-1994) - Kärleksvals
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) - Little Dance
Jacques Ibert (1890-1962) - Entr’acte
Louis Bonfa (1922-2001) - Chanson d’Orphée
Joseph Haydn - Serenad
Mauro Giuliani (1781-1829) - Rondo
Åsa Lindström (b.1956) - Vals i vemod
J.S. Bach (1685-1750) - Air ur orkestersvit nr 3
CD 2 (CDA 1875)
Scott Joplin (1868-1917)
- The Entertainer
Evert Taube (1890-1976) - Skärgårdsfrun
3 Brudvals - Pepita Dansar
Carl Michael Bellman (1740-1795) - Fredmans Sång nr. 21
- Fredmans Epistel nr. 7
- Fredmans Epistel nr. 42
- Fredmans Sång nr. 60
Stanley Myers (1930-1993) - Cavatina,
- trad. Skräddarekadrilj, efter Florsen i Burs
Scott Joplin - Maple Leaf Rag,
Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805) - Menuett
Franz Schubert (1797-1828) - Moment Musicale No 3
- Andante ur Pianosonat a-moll opus 42
Pieter Van Der Staak (1930-2007)
Tree Myths for Guitar trio
15 God of Spring
16 The Bird of Love
17 Lord of Fecundity
John W. Duarte (1919-2004)
Ur Variationer över Värmlandsvisan opus 84
Scott Joplin - Pleasant moments
Leonhard von Call (1767-1815) - Minuet opus 26:2
trad. (arr. W. Dünnebeil) - Cielito lindo
Guillermo Uitarra - Danza Espanola No 1
- Danza Espanola No 2
Enrique Granados (1867-1916) - Spanish Dance No 11
- Intermedio
Franz Schubert - Tre valser
Fernando Sor (1778-1839)
28 Study in B minor (arr. Duarte)
CD 3 (CDA 1876)
Fernando Sor
Etudes: Opus 35 & 60
