Eleftheria Kotzia - La Guitarra Latina

Eleftheria Kotzia

La Guitarra Latina

Roland Dyens (b.1955)

Tango en skaï 

Hector Ayala (1914-1990)

South American Suite

Ernesto Cordero (b.1946)

Three Cantagas negras (Premiere recording)

Edmundo Vasquez (b.1938)

Auzielle (Premiere recording)

Joäo Teixiera Guimaräes (Pernambuco)  (1883-1947)

Graüna (Blackbird)

Sons de Carrihões (Sounds of Bells)

Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992)

Verano Porteno (Summer in Buenos Aires)

Rio Sena (River Seine)

La Muerte del Ángel (Death of the Angel)

Dilermando Reis (1918-1976)

Xödó da Baiana (Sweetheart of Bahia)(Premiere recording)

Se ela perguntar (If she should ask)

Eleftheria Kotzia (Guitar)

Eleftheria Kotzia certainly sounds a confident guitarist with a wide dynamic range, quite aggressive at times, but refined and lyrical when required and a fine sense of the use of tone colour.

There are moments of slight hesitation but on the whole she is secure rhythmically, which is imperative given this type of repertoire. The recording itself is a little noisy, possibly due to the closeness of the microphone to the instrument, so string squeaks and Miss Kotzia's breathing are audible. But through it all comes an undeniable enthusiasm and enjoyment of playing the guitar.

Although I do like Villa-Lobos, Lauro and Barrios it is refreshing to hear a disc of Latin American guitar music where they are conspicuous by their absence and not at all missed. To be sure there are some old favourites here but these are more than adequately balanced by some lesser known works and some 'interesting' premier recording especially from Ernesto Cordero whose 'Three Cantigas Negras' incorporates various percussive effects as well as crossed string techniques that shows his modern forward looking approach, which is in contrast to Edmundo Vasquez's view of purity of form in his 'Auzielle'. The diversity of styles is maintained by the jazz tinged tango based music of Piatsollo, whereas Hector Ayala endeavours to capture the main musical characteristics of South America as a whole via his seven movement suite (first made known to me some years ago on a recording by Narciso Yepes). John Duarte supplies the booklet inlay notes which, it goes without saying, are concise and very knowledgeable.

So, disregarding the technique employed by Chandos for this recording, an enjoyable CD of music which deserves subsequent listening.

Andy Daly