From The Romantic Era - Laurindo Almeida

The Maid With The Flaxen Hair

From The Romantic Era
Music of Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin, Debussy, Massenet, Grieg, and Sor, Transcribed For The Guitar
Laurindo Almeida
Capitol Records P 8341
1956

From Billboard - August 18, 1956: Almeida essays some unexploited repertoire for the guitar, using mainly transcriptions of popular miniatures from the 19th century. His technique is clean and the recording is good, tho guitar connoisseurs nurtured on Segovia will find less musicianship here. At any rate, popularity of the instrument should move copies.

From the back cover: These transcriptions, along with a set of variations by Fernando Sor, have been brought together to supply something new in recorded guitar music. They have been assembled in chronological order.

Though the guitar lacks the range and sonority of the piano – for which most of these compositions were written – it has quite enough scope to preserve the original harmonic progressions and voice leading, and its tone is singularly well adapted to the dimensions of the average room.

Package features a nice photo of Almeida on glossy cover paper stock. Almeida, to me, has the ability to put his impressive personal creative stamp on whatever project he's involved with, including this set, which I would not be quick to compare to Segovia.

Variations On A Theme From Mozart's "The Magic Fute"
Minuet In G (Beethoven)
Fragment From The Septet, Op. 20 (Beethoven)
Adagio Sostenuto From The "Moonlight" Sonata (Beethoven)
About Strange Lands And People (Schumann)
Traumerei From "Kinderscenen" (Schumann)
Waltz In B Minor, Op. 69, No. 2 (Chopin)
Nocturne In E Flat, Op. 9, No. 2 (Chopin)
Waltz, Op. 12, No. 2 (Grieg)
Elegie From Incidental Music To "The Furies" (Massenet)
The Little Shepherd From "The Children's Corner" (Debussy)
The Maid With The Flaxen Hair (Debussy)