Thanos Mitsalas Plays Music by Sergio Assad
3 Divertimentos
1. Abaete
2. Arpoador
3. Parati
(from Summer Garden Suite)
4. Remembrance
Sonata
5. Allegro moderato
6. Andante
7. Presto [3:07]
(from Summer Garden Suite)
8. Farewell
9. Fantasia Carioca
(from Summer Garden Suite)
10. Dreams
(Second Aquarelle)
11. Valseana
3 Greek Letters
12. Pi
13. Psi
14. Sigma
Complete Program: [54:52]
CD available from www.clearnote.net
Greek guitarist Thanos Mitsalas recently surprised me with this recording of a substantial part of my music written for solo guitar. The disc is quite impressive and presents a very personal interpretation of my works. Thanos has remarkable technique and a highly sensitive musical intuition.
The compositions featured in this recording were written over the course of many years and consequently reflect different phases of my musical life.
Three Divertimentos were written in 1996 for some students I had for a short period of time while teaching at the Conservatoire Royal in Belgium.
Valseana is the second movement of a longer work called Aquarelle and was written around 1984 representing quite well my song writing of that time.
Fantasia Carioca dates from 1994 when I had my phase of motif development and it celebrates the city of Rio de Janeiro, Remembrance and Farewell are also from 1994 and were written for the Japanese movie Natsu No Niwa.
The Sonata was commissioned by the Japanese magazine Gendai Guitar in 1999 and mirrors one of my first attempts in bridging different musical cultures.
3 Greek Letters were written in the year 2000 and although they are not based in Greek traditional music they are my personal homage to the great Greek culture and civilization.
Thanos Mitsalas has lots to say as a skilled guitarist and fine musician. I'm pleased he has chosen my unpretentious solo guitar works as his first recording project.
Sergio Assad - May 2009
REVIEWS FOR "Thanos Mitsalas plays music by Sergio
Assad" (ClearNote-2009)
Thanos's recording of Assad's FANTASIA CARIOCA is includedin Enrique Robichaud's book "Guitar's Top 100"!
....Mitsalas's playing is excellent. He has a fine feel for Assad's idiom in these pieces, and his technical command and sense of invention and expression are impressive.....this is an excellent introduction if you are not familiar with his music.
Kenneth Keaton - May 2012 (American Record Guide)
Like Argentine tango fusionist Astor Piazzolla, Brazilian guitarist Sergio Assad has considerable gifts as acomposer, merging national rhythms with more extended compositional concepts. His works have begun to enter the guitar repertory and to attract performances like this welcome debut from Greek guitarist Thanos Mitsalas. Avoiding the usual weakness of the independent guitar releases, he is nicely recorded by Cue Productions studio in Thessaloniki, and has plenty of power in reserve in the difficult 3 Greek Letters (tracks 12-14). If you want the fireworks of which Assad is capable, go there to hear them in a slighty Greek-inflected form. The work was not composed for Mitsalas but is natural for him.....A highly recommended CD!
James Manheim - April 2012 (All music review)
..........The majority of the works here put considerable technical and at times, musical demands upon the performer being rife with virtuosic rapid arpeggios and intricate scale passages. Mitsalas takes all this in his strive and the compositions are never musically compromised, the player showing a high respect for these piecesand his enjoyment in performing these works coming across very well.....
Steve Marsh - May 2010 (Classical Guitar Magazine)
Ο Βραζιλιάνος συνθέτης, κιθαρίστας και δάσκαλος Sergio Assad είναι αναμφισβήτητα μία από τις μείζονες μορφές της σύγχρονης κιθάρας. Η κλασική εκδοχή του οργάνου τού χρωστά πλήθος συνθέσεων, όπου διάφορες τάσεις, ρεύματα, στυλ συμπλέκονται και γεννούν ήχους της δυτικής, της τζαζ και της βραζιλιάνικης παράδοσης, με τις αναλογίες κάθε φορά να ποικίλουν. Ο Θάνος Μήτσαλας είναι ένας ξεχωριστά ταλαντούχος μουσικός. Χαρακτηρίζεται από εμμονή στις λεπτομέρειες, απαράμιλλη δεξιοτεχνία, πολυδιάστατη ερμηνευτική γκάμα, καλλιτεχνικό αισθητήριο, αφοσίωση στο όργανο, περφεξιονιστική επιμονή και αίσθηση “ελευθερίας και πειθαρχίας, ταυτόχρονα”. Όλα αυτά είναι προσόντα που γίνονται αντιληπτά από τις πρώτες νότες του CD. Στο εξώφυλλο διαβάζουμε για τον μαθητή του Κώστα Κοτσιώλη πως διακρίθηκε σε πάμπολλους διαγωνισμούς, σε ορισμένους από τους οποίους (Βόλος, Σιλεσία, Μαρτινίκα) ήταν ο μικρότερος σε ηλικία, που είχε κερδίσει το πρώτο βραβείο. Με έδρα και τόπο διαμονής τη Νάουσα, ο Μήτσαλας είναι πολίτης του κόσμου με απαιτητικά ρεσιτάλ, στα οποία ερμηνεύει συνθέσεις ρεπερτορίου, αλλά και πρωτότυπα έργα των Assad, Brouwer, Dyens και άλλων, σε πρώτη εκτέλεση! Ακούγονται θαυμαστά όλ' αυτά τα επιτεύγματα, όμως ας μην ξεχνάμε πως από την εποχή των πρωτεργατών Εκμετσόγλου, Μηλιαρέση, Φάμπα, έχουν περάσει δύο γενιές και η χώρα μας θεωρείται, σήμερα, ως μία από τις “πατρίδες” του οργάνου από πλευράς δυναμικού και ποιότητας. Να γιατί η περιφέρεια μπορεί να βγάζει νέους μουσικού με διεθνή ακτινοβολία, αξιοζήλευτη καριέρα, συν ικανότητες που υπερβαίνουν τα δελτία Τύπου και ακούγονται ξεκάθαρα στις ηχογραφήσεις.
Η έκδοση περιλαμβάνει τα “Three Divertmentos” γραμμένα στο Βέλγιο σε πλαίσιο διδακτικών υποχρεώσεων, την “Valseana”, δεύτερο μέρος από τις “Ακουαρέλες” (1984) και την “Fantasia Carioca”, που είναι ένα δοξαστικό στο Ρίο ντε Τζανέιρο. Την ίδια χρονιά (1994) είναι γραμμένη η “Summer Garden Suite”, μέρη από την οποία ερμηνεύει ο σολίστ με εντυπωσιακό τρόπο. Η σουίτα αυτή χρησιμοποιήθηκε ως σάουντρακ σε μία ιαπωνική ταινία με τίτλο Natsu No Niwa. Λεπτομέρειες: ίντερνετ, “κλικ” ...Μιλώντας για την χώρα του Ανατέλλοντος Ηλίου, εκεί εκδίδεται το εξειδικευμένο περιοδικό Gendai Guitar (τι τίτλος!) παραγγελία του οποίου είναι η Sonata, μια 16λεπτη σύνθεση που συνενώνει-αντιπαραθέτει-συνταιριάζει στοιχεία από διαφορετικούς πολιτισμούς. Το πρόγραμμα ολοκληρώνεται με τα Ελληνικά Γράμματα “Πι”, “Ψι” και “Σίγμα”, σύντομη τριλογία του Assad που χωρίς να περικλείει ελληνικούς τρόπους είναι κατά τον δημιουργό της ένας φόρος τιμής στον πολιτισμό μας. Ως “coda” αντιγράφουμε κάποια σχόλια του ιδίου του συνθέτη. Είναι ο άμεσα ενδιαφερόμενος και ο λόγος του βαρύνει. “Ο Θάνος Μήτσαλας έχει πολλά να πει ως ικανός κιθαρίστας και θαυμάσιος μουσικός. Είμαι ευτυχής που επέλεξε τα απαρουσίαστα έργα μου για κιθάρα σ'αυτόν τον πρώτο του δίσκο. Έχει αξιοσημείωτη τεχνική και υψηλή μουσική ευαισθησία...”.
Κορνήλιος Διαμαντόπουλος - Mάιος 2011 (Jazz & Tzaz Magazine)
..........Though tackling these works would seem like a daunting task for any accomplished guitarist, the Juilliard trained performer and educator excels in the face of this challence, producing an album that is not only enjoyable to listen to, but that stands up to the level of scrunity that any work containing Sergio's music would surely face.....
Matt Warnock – January 2011 (Guitar International Magazine)
.......The young Greek guitarist Thanos Mitsalas has recorded a large part of Sergio Assad's original compositions for solo guitar....Mitsalas seems thoroughly at home in this repertoire. The syncopations of the first of the three divertimentos appear to come naturally to him; so do the relative formalities of the Sonata (a particularly interesting work). Remembrance and Farewell were written as film music and get attractive and evocative performances. Fantasia Carioca, written to celebrate the City of Rio de Janeiro, is a striking tone poem, playfully (and thoughfully) various tempos and phrasing, and Mitsalas invests it with real feeling. Everywhere one senses a vitality of personal commitment and a disciplined freedom in his interpretations.
Thanos Mitsalas is an impressive soloist and here he throws a rewarding light on some interesting compositions. He benefits from a recorded sound that is intimate without being over-close.
Glyn Pursglove - June 2010 (musicweb-international)
Althought most classical guitar enthusiasts know Sergio Assad as one half of the legendary Assad Brothers Duo, in recent years his solo guitar compositions have been garnering attention from performers and concert goers alike. His music is a unique blend of South American melodies backed occasionally by risque contemporary harmonies. It is this music that makes up the debut CD of Greek guitarist Thanos Mitsalas. The fluid and expressive nature of Assad's works leave plenty of room for unique interpretation, and Mitsalas takes full advantage of this. Instead of simply reciting the compositions according to Assad's directions, there is a true sense that Mitsalas wanted to use the works as a medium for his own artistic statement. While it may be Assad's notes , the music is undoubtedly coming from Mitsalas. He delicately phrases the characteristic Latin melodies and effortlessly navigates the technically challenging passages. Although young, Mitsalas's musicianship is remarkably mature, and this disc serves as an excellent introduction to this budding guitarist.
Timothy Smith – Jan 2010 (Minor 7th music magazine)
........This young performer has a lot going for him, and I predict his name soon will become more familiar among guitar enthusiasts....Assad's music is not easy to play, but it falls easily on the ear - not because it is simple, but because it is full of piquant harmonies and rhythms, and other pleasant surprises! It has many twists and turns, but it is never unfriendly. Mitsalas plays it cleanly and expressively, and is not ruffled by the complicated rhythms in the Fantasia Carioca, for example. The recording captures the warm sound of his Thomas Humphrey guitar.
If you don't know Sergio Assad's solo guitar music, Thanos Mitsalas's CD will give you an excellent place to get started.
Raymond Tuttle – Sep 2009 (classical.net)