Scenes of Reverie
A Musical Collage of Canonical Guitar Works
Rosa Franziska Maier (guitar)
rec 2023, Alte Zigarrenfabrik, Sandhausen, Germany
Genuin GEN25934 [46]
In having the repertory on this recording conform to the thematic designation, some descriptive license has been taken. While the works may be canonical, they are not all strictly guitar works. Of the twelve compositions presented, three were not written for the guitar; adapted and arranged for the instrument they are usually more frequently heard on the guitar than instrument for which they were originally written.
Of the guitar’s characteristics, its ability to engender and embellish impressions of reverie is undisputed, the degree of which lies within the hands of the player. In achieving her thematic objective this guitarist has exercised mature taste, and selected not only generally-known and appreciated works, but also relevant.
The Five Bagatelles by William Walton were written for Julian Bream, and dedicated to Malcolm Arnold. Certainly no mere trifles, Walton was so pleased with the opus that he later arranged and elaborated if for orchestra under the title Varii Caprici; some would suggest not as successfully as the original for guitar. The didactic No. VII from Appunti, Op. 210 is in good company with Studies No i and viii from the Twelve Studies by Villa Lobos. How could Reverie Op 19 by Regondi not be included on this occasion? Prelude BWV 995 by J.S. Bach, was originally for lute, and Nos.V and IV from España Op. 165, are piano originals by Isaac Albeniz.
Rosa Franziska Maier is an Austrian musician born in 1997, and raised in Graz. She took her first music lessons aged three, and studied the guitar one year later. She was a student of Elisabeth and Heinz Irmler and at the age of 15 was accepted in the class of the renowned Paolo Pegoraro She studied subsequently with the Uruguayan virtuoso Alvaro Pierri. Since 2025 she has been pursuing a postgraduate artistic mater’s programme with Tilman Hoppstock
Maiers’ musicianship and command of her instrument are impressive. With a refined technique the Villa-Lobos arpeggio study is executed flawlessly. One would need to search hard to find a more musical rendition of the Prelude from BWV 995. The rather demanding, brisk and especially dynamic Bagatelle No 3 by Walton is true to expectation, and the remaining four are very well played. Whether it is because he was the first to record this music by Walton, or whether his rendition was so superior, Julian Bream has long held a position of performance pre-eminence. Nothing must be taken from the fine performance here, but one hears the two renditions almost simultaneously, and comparisons inevitably occur. The sonic qualities of the recording are excellent and highlight the impressive tone with which Maier plays. We are not made privy to the instrument she employed.
This is an enjoyable recording from several aspects. The carefully chosen programme engenders sentiments embodied in the CD’s title, and provides refined listening pleasure
Zane Turner
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Contents:
William Walton (1902-1983)
Five Bagatelles
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968)
Quaderno primo,VII: Sulle seste
from Appunti Opus 210
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Prelude BWV 995
Giulio Regondi (1822-1872)
Reverie-Nocturne, Op 19
Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)
Guitar Studies Nos. I and VIII from W235
Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909)
España Op 165, Nos V and IV
