Giuliani: Guitar Concertos Nos 1-3

Mauro Giuliani, the most prominent guitar virtuoso in early 19th-century Vienna, a frequent musical collaborator of Hummel and Moscheles and cellist in the premiere of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony, was also possibly the first to write a guitar concerto – a project until then considered foolhardy given the modest dynamic range of the instrument. But this release, featuring Giuliani’s three extant guitar concertos together with a selection of chamber works, shows just how successful he was.

The two-CD set contains the well known Concerto No 1 together with No 2 (both for guitar and string orchestra – although the Second exists in another version for guitar accompanied by strings and winds) and Concerto No 3 for guitar and full orchestra. Also included are the Gran quintetto for guitar and strings and the Variations for guitar and string quartet. Edoardo Catemario plays an 1825 ‘Pons l’aîné’ (Joseph Pons), which is apparently identical to Giuliani’s own guitar; the Third Concerto and the Variations specify a ‘terzina’ guitar (tuned a minor third higher than is usual, thereby gaining a brighter tone and increased projection). The Vienna Academy, too, perform on period instruments.

Catemario proves more than a match for Giuliani’s technical hurdles: the brilliant passagework and legato phrasing in the slower sections are seamlessly integrated into the orchestral texture, while the orchestra seem to relish the challenge of passing through the eye of a needle, so to speak – it’s as though there’s a heightened sensitivity for dynamic contrast and internal balance, the result of having so subtle a focus.

Beethoven’s writings reveal that he thought highly enough of Giuliani to attend some of his many concerts; anyone who considers the guitar incapable of sophisticated utterance in the realm of Viennese Classicism may think rather differently after hearing these beautiful new recordings. -- William Yeoman, Gramophone [2/2006]