Because the guitar is a more intimate instrument, and unlike the piano devoid of any mechanical moving parts between the musician and itself, it's much better suited to expressive music like this set of 24 Nocturnes for Solo Guitar by Canadian composer Nick Peros than the piano could ever be. The purity of tone that emanates from a classical guitar's nylon strings, when captured in the right acoustic environment, goes straight to the listener's heart and soul. And the beautifully atmospheric harmonic approach that Nick Peros applies to each number (Nocturne Nos. 8, 13 and 23 stand out) achieves just that. Most pieces are haunting and evocative with a handful that are more passionate and technically demanding on the performer (No. 11 for example). And none of them sound repetitive as each one seems to inhabit a different and personal emotional state, a quality made all the more obvious by the varying levels of expressive color and weight guitarist Michael Kolk brings to each one. The instrument he used during the recording sessions is a Martin Blackwell guitar. This is the world première recording of this set of new works for the guitar, that hopefully all serious guitarists will strive to learn and perform, keeping in mind that Michael Kolk has already set the bar very high.

Jean-Yves Duperron - September 2017