Naxos continues its series of two-CD Portrait: His Works, His Life collection, which includes composers such as Bartók, Shostakovich, John Tavener, and Arvo Pärt, with Joaquín Rodrigo. The set includes an 80-page book detailing Rodrigo's life, by Graham Wade, the composer's primary English biographer. The selection of pieces makes this an especially useful collection because it's not merely a compilation of the composer's greatest hits. It's a diverse and thoughtfully assembled assortment of pieces that span Rodrigo's long ...
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Naxos continues its series of two-CD Portrait: His Works, His Life collection, which includes composers such as Bartók, Shostakovich, John Tavener, and Arvo Pärt, with Joaquín Rodrigo. The set includes an 80-page book detailing Rodrigo's life, by Graham Wade, the composer's primary English biographer. The selection of pieces makes this an especially useful collection because it's not merely a compilation of the composer's greatest hits. It's a diverse and thoughtfully assembled assortment of pieces that span Rodrigo's long career and brings many of his lesser-known pieces to the public's attention. The performances are culled from Naxos' extensive catalog of works by the composer and are of a consistently high quality, even though they don't feature the high-profile artists who've recorded his most famous works. The collection doesn't have complete multi-movement works -- just one representative movement is included -- but the booklet directs the listener to the album from which the excerpt is taken to...
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