Classical Guitarist Peter Fletcher at FPL July 23rd, 7pm

This is American guitarist Peter Fletcher’s third CD for Centaur of piano music that he himself has arranged for guitar. (The first two discs were devoted to Mompou and Satie, respectively.)…

Fletcher’s performances bear not a trace of strain or awkwardness. His playing reminds me of Segovia’s—not Segovia at the end of his career, when he sometimes sounded a little too careful, but Segovia at the time of his several Decca LPs from the 1950s and 1960s. This is mellow playing, and melody is king, but rhythmic vitality is never sacrificed, phrasing is precise, and harmonies always retain a jewel-like clarity.

In three of the individual works, Fletcher overdubbed a second guitar part onto the first. He did this not to create the impression of a guitar duet, but to “create the sound of one guitar” playing more homophonically complex works. He did this so successfully that I suspect most listeners will be completely unaware of the overdubbing, unless they read about it in the performer’s booklet note. Such was the case for me.

This program was recorded in a studio in the Bronx, and it accentuates the warmth and intimacy of Fletcher’s playing. String noise, while present, is never obtrusive. This is a superb CD for relaxation, but, heard more attentively, it loses none of its appeal. Highly recommended! Raymond Tuttle