Laureate Series-Guitar: Anton Baranov

Without the slightest hint of din or discord, only a healthy dissonance and drama, Classical Guitarist Anton Baranov treats us to the contemporary machinations of Pujol, Bravo, Angulo, and Santorsola with a flexibility of wrist, hand, and fingers that can only be described as astounding. Through a combination of applied will and insightful intuition, Baranov brings to bear all his training and natural talent to a type of music that is not so crowd-pleasing but rather takes a little effort on the part of the listener to fully appreciate. With a technique as sacred as the gospel and a musicality sacrosanct to believers, Baranov earns prolifically, and is so worthy of, the panegyrics from Latin America to the Iberian Peninsula to the far corners of the globe.

Excellent. There are so many wonderful compositions from Latin America that go way beyond the popular images of Argentine, Mexican, Brazilian and other nations' music which are now getting the recognition they merit from talented international players.

Very Nice performances!

Anton Baranov - Guitar Recital - NAXOSIn this latest edition to Naxos records highly regarded Laureate Series, internationally acclaimed Russian guitarist Anton Baranov avoids the standard Baroque to Romantic to Modern guitar recital format in favor of an all-contemporary Latin American program.Though each is unique in his own way, all four composers featured here share an experimental approach, mixing indigenous folk melodies and dance forms with a modernist interest in shifting time signatures and dissonant harmonies.As an acknowledged virtuoso and winner of prestigious guitar competitions in Germany, Italy, Paraguay, Spain and the US, Mr. Baranov’s considerable technical precision and deep musical understanding are more than equal to the challenge of this sometimes difficult, but always intriguing set of contemporary compositions.Guitar Recital by Anton Baranov is a must-have for guitar students and modern music aficionados alike. There is exhilaration to this music, propelled by Mr. Baranov’s virtuosic performance that recommends itself as well to the more open-minded general listener.Highest recommendation 10 out of 10 Oscar O. Veterano

I've been collecting classical guitar music for 35 years and I favor recordings with compositions not in my collection. Amazingly, Naxos finally came out with a GFA Winner CD that doesn't have compositions that we've all heard dozens of times before. Though only the Sonata Portena is a world premiere recording, all of the other recordings were also new to my ears. The music was composed between the last half of the 20th Century and the early 21st Century.