Deion Cho - Latin American Guitar Music (2016)

This young guitarists debut album is the perfect introduction to his artistry, showcasing as it does four leading 20th-century composers of guitar music Antonio José Palacios, Alberto Ginastera, Antonio Lauro and Julio Gentil Montaña composers who in turn represent four different countries and four styles of music that differ widely both aesthetically and in terms of the traditions from which they spring. Among the most promising Spanish composers of his generation, Antonio José was acclaimed by Ravel and counted Lorca and Dali among his associates, but like Lorca, he was executed by a Falangist firing squad during the Spanish Civil War. Only 34 years of age, he had accumulated a catalogue of music impressive not only for its depth but its sophistication, exemplified by the substantial Guitar Sonata which is his best-known work. The Sonata by the Argentine Alberto Ginastera is no less imposing in structure, and harmonically much more adventurous than Josés bluesy neo-classicism. The four Venezuelan waltzes by Antonio Lauro are brief and charming early works, the first three dedicated to his daughter and two nieces, the last named Yacambú after an orchid-rich national park in the northern Andes. The first movement of the fourth Colombian Suite by Julio Gentil Montaña (1942-2011) is likewise named after that countrys capital, Bogotà, and it is followed by three interpretations of national dances, concluding with a snappy Porro. The 23-year-old Deion Cho is of South Korean origin, currently studying and working in Spain. He has given the album his signature with an arrangement of a popular Korean folksong, About 500 Years, clearly inflected by his years of work in Hispanic and Iberian music. This is the CD debut of Korean guitarist Deion Cho, first prize winner of the Concorso Internacional de Guitarra Clásica Gredos San Diego. For his first CD Cho chose 4 leading 20-th century guitar composers, differing in style and tradition: Ginastera, Lauro, Montaña and Martínez Palacios. Although all originating from South America the composers styles differ greatly: from the neoclassical idiom to folk inspired, from charming Waltzes to harsh expressionism. All these dazzling, attractive works make full use of the resources of the guitar and show the prodigious gift of this young virtuoso, Deion Cho.