Morceaux de Concert, Op. 54
Introduction et Variations sur: Que né suis je la fougère! Op. 26
Deuxième Grande Sonate, Op. 25
Mes Ennuis, Six Bagatelles, Op. 43
Souvenirs d'une Soirée à Berlin, Op. 56

Music for the guitar that transcends the instrument. Spanish guitarist and composer Fernando Sor (1778-1839) wrote so much expressive and refined music for the guitar based on classical form and structure, that he is often considered to have elevated this humble, proletarian instrument from its status as a folk instrument, to holding its own on the concert stage. He did for the guitar what Beethoven did for the piano. Nor does his music sound intrinsically Spanish, but instead projects a cosmopolitan flair. He didn't write guitar music, but rather absolute music to be performed on the guitar. These may sound like one and the same, but are actually polar opposites.

Guitar professor and master musician, Frank Bungarten brings out all the finesse and elegance inherent to these pieces. As pointed out in this previous review of his recording of guitar music by Villa-Lobos, his delivery has an almost three-dimensional sound to it, with the melody out front and the accompaniment recessed in the background. And his level of musicianship is so high that he completely effaces himself from the soundstage, leaving behind strictly the music for us to enjoy.

The guitar used in this recording is a 2003, spruce and Brazilian rosewood Gerhard Schnabl instrument, characterized by tonal purity, very well served by MDG's trademark 2+2+2 Hybrid-Multichannel SACD recording. I've only been able to listen to it in regular stereo, so I can just imagine how lifelike it must sound in surround sound.