This programme of music form South America commences with a delectable set of four pieces from Garoto (Annibal Augusto Sardinha) ably performed by Michael Lucarelli. He gets to the soul of this music and gives a fine interpretation, whetting the appetite for the rest of the programme. Especially enjoyable is the third movement from which the title of this CD is taken.
Thoughtful phrasing and nice tone colouring is given to the Astor Piazzolla classic, Verano Porteno, and the first of the two Barrios works, Julia Florida. La Catedral is granted just about the right amount of solemnity where required and, for me, the tempo of the final section is spot on- no flashy, over-the-top finger-work for the sake of speed, but more thought given to the music.

Lucarelli handles the deceptively tricky Jorge Morel composition well enough, giving a performance equal to the best of them.

It doesn’t state in the sleeve-notes whether or not this is this player’s first recording or not but if it is Michael Lucarelli has chosen his programme well, including among the well known works a few lesser known ones (the Garoto set) and, to me, a completely unheard of work, the study by Carlos Alberto Fonseca. The rather ‘clinical’ title, Etude No. 2 hides a beautiful work of romanticism on a par with anything else in that vein on this recording. It makes one want to hear any other studies by this composer.

The two paired Villa-Lobos compositions work very well together, the sadness of the final part of the prelude being contrasted with the exuberance of one of this composer’s most tuneful works for solo guitar, the Gavota Choro.

The Campo from Carlevaro’s magnificent five preludes concludes a fine, well performed, thoughtful programme from a very engaging player.

Steve Marsh