Contemporary music for guitar

WRTI’s e-newsletter just came out, and my second CD review is in there. Excellent playing from Cem Duruöz.

Kile Smith recommends…
Contemporary Music for Guitar
Cem Duruöz. Centaur 2563

The Turkish-born guitarist Cem (pronounced “Gem”) Duruöz concertizes on four continents, and his wide-ranging career mixes tango with French baroque, electronics, jazz, and the popular Rodrigo concerto. The music on this CD comes from a mostly contemplative vein, and is a fine introduction to playing of exquisite color and passion.

The most recognizable composer’s name is William Walton, whose Five Bagatelles include a delicious “Alla Cubana” and melting “Sempre Espressivo.” Styles roam from the appealing mood-setting of David Hahn to the classic taped accompaniment of Mario Davidovsky’s Synchronisms, from Nicky Hind’s ambient washes of soft clusters to a delightful Prelude by the Rumanian-Turkish composer Bujor Hoinic. Duruöz plays with a tonal control that will gladden the heart of any guitar aficionado.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 1st, 2008 at 9:28 am and is filed under CD Reviews, CDs, Classical music, Radio, new music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

About Kile

“SPECTACULAR,”

Gramophone says about Kile Smith’s music. Fanfare calls it “magniﬁcent,” and the Philadelphia Inquirer, “spellbinding” and “ecstatically beautiful.” American Record Guide praises Vespers as “a major new work”; in Audiophile Audition: “a masterpiece of the deepest kind… easily one of the best releases of the year”; the Philadelphia City Paper called it “almost preternaturally beautiful.” Listeners are drawn to the dramatic energy and unabashed lyricism of his music.

Find his bio, works, upcoming activities, and what the press is saying, in the pages listed along the top, as well as descriptions of his pieces and radio shows. Audio ﬁles turn up all over but are also gathered together here.

Vespers has its own page, and its own page of reviews.

Everything to the left is Kile’s blog, which is all about his music and musical activities. If it’s of more than passing interest he tries to link it to an appropriate page. If you have any questions, just ask, and Kile will be certain to write back, even if he doesn’t know the answer. Especially if he doesn’t know the answer.

WRTI: Now is the Time

Now is the Time, American contemporary music, Sundays at 10 pm. On WRTI-HD2 and on the classical stream at wrti.org, it’s all styles of concert music by living American composers. Coming up:

Sep 12 2010
Brass, Cellos

Leslie Bassett
Brass Quintet

Ezra Laderman
Aldo

Jeremy Gill
Suite for Brass

Here are the recording details and complete schedule, and here’s the theme music and how it was written. (Because you really wanted to know. Didn’t you.) Tell me what you think, or ask how to send in your CDs for broadcast consideration.

Kile Smith