Julian Bream: My Favorite Albums

In this age of so many cookie-cutter guitarists who never miss a note and sound indistinguishable from one another, it’s good to be reminded of what a revelation Julian Bream was. Here was a player every bit as individual as Andrés Segovia, but more disciplined and expressively sophisticated. Further, Bream was far more catholic in his taste, embracing both thorny modern fare and early music. Following Bream’s recording career as he explored his varied interests was a delightful adventure. (Perhaps no other musician of the time showed just how great the renaissance lute repertoire really is.) One wonders how many of today’s young guitarists, carefully groomed to never offend pedestrian tastes, will ever display similar artistic integrity.This ten CD set is billed as a reissue of ten original LP recordings released between 1960 and 1983. As it turns out, the billing isn’t entirely true. One of the releases was a 1979 two LP set of live performances by Bream and Williams during their 1978 three city tour of the United States. In this new set, three performances that were on the original release are omitted: Faure’s Dolly Suite, Sor’s Fantasie, Op. 54, and the Brahms Theme and Variations, Op. 18. Why Sony chose to omit these is a mystery, as all three works easily could have been included on the CD—with these works missing, it times out to a paltry 37:30. What’s particularly galling is that the original LP jacket is reproduced for each CD sleeve. Thus, buyers of this new compilation can see for themselves that they’ve been cheated out of the complete 1979 release, as the three missing works are listed right on the original jacket artwork. What’s the thinking that goes into such an obvious insult to the buyer?This is an unfortunate pattern that Sony has long followed with its reissues of Bream recordings, chopping up his original discography piecemeal. To younger buyers, it’s perhaps not a problem. But to those of us who grew up on and treasure these old Bream recordings, it’s infuriating.One can quibble with the selections for these ten recordings. Bream’s playing began to slip during the late 1970s. So I tend to favor his earlier recordings. For my taste, I’d like to have seen these included:Music for Voice and Guitar—Julian Bream & Peter Pears (1965)Lute Music From The Royal Courts Of Europe (1966)Julian Bream—Classic Guitar (1969)Julian Bream Plays Villa-Lobos, with André Previn and the London Symphony (1971)And no Bream collection is complete without his astonishing Popular Classics for Spanish Guitar (1963), although Sony has mercifully reissued this uncut. But this Original Jacket Collection does include three of my favorites: The Art of Julian Bream (1960), The Woods So Wild (1972), and also Bream’s seminal 20th Century Guitar (1967).To be sure, Bream’s recorded output was uneven. Sample the out-of-tune playing on his Romantic Guitar (1970) release. And his tone could be a bit grating, something that got worse as time went on. Further, RCA and Bream often favored a recorded sound that exacerbated rather than softened his faults. Oddly, it’s the earliest recording in this set, The Art of Julian Bream, that I find most flattering to Bream’s playing. But whatever his faults, Bream was always a compelling player.Throughout this review, I speak of Bream in the past tense only because he has retired as a concert artist. Bream is still very much with us—indeed, he’s actively commissioning and sponsoring performances of new works for the guitar. Even in retirement, Bream is a force for expanding the guitar repertoire.So deduct one star for Sony’s callous omission. And here’s a bit of advice to Sony: the next time you reissue an original recording, include the entire recording, not bits of it.-----------------------------------------------------------------------Update:Sony re-released the complete Bream RCA recordings as a box set in 2013. The missing works noted above are included in the complete set.

This is the most wonderful collection of classical music that I have ever heard. Julian Bream's playing is always a great pleasure to hear: he brings the music to life with his passion and enthusiasm, and the variety of tone colours that he produces from his guitar (and his lute) is second to none. The range of musical styles covered in this set is astonishing and refreshing. You will find sensitive interpretations of Bach, delicate Dowland pieces (there is lute music here, too!), evocative 20th century solo guitar compositions, expressive Spanish music, beautiful guitar concertos with full orchestra, delightful pieces with Bream accompanied by a string quartet and a harpsichord, and vibrant guitar duets with John Williams.The only downside to this set is that it will make you want to buy everything that Julian Bream has ever recorded, and sadly, many of those albums are no longer available.

I originally hesitated to buy this, thinking that 10 cds at such a low price would be cheaply packaged with obscure old material remastered at a low level. That could not be further from the truth in this case.Every album selected is filled with some of his best work with good quality mastering.The packaging is quite clever with little mini album covers that can read with the assistance of a magnifying glass.I enjoy this even more than my Segovia box set(4cds).

Reintroduced me to this great artist. I had a few of these disks on vinyl, but this collection is massive and a terrific bargain. They have reproduced the original artwork on both the CD covers AND the disks; so you'll need a microscope to read them -- or just read the comprehensive booklet that comes with the set. ;-)The artistry and diversity of Bream come shining through. Highly recommended.

This set is a wonderfully varied collection of Julian Bream's entrancing guitar playing. With deft touch, and no distracting sound of fingers sliding on coil wrapped strings, Bream shows how a master plays. An audio feast.

Julian Bream is perhaps the greatest classical guitarist of the modern era. His influence on audiences and players has eclipsed even that of Segovia. This set collects ten of his LP albums including original cover art for each one. The playing is exquisite and the range of color, style and technique is jaw-dropping. The repertoire covers the centuries from Bach to Britten. If you have only one classical guitar recording in your collection, make sure it's this fabulous set.

10 CDs - Booklet in german, english and french.Music from 16th to 20th century.My favorite albums is a personal selection of the ten most popular LP albumsby the British guitarist and lutenist Julian Bream, from 1959 to 1982.

This is billed as a set of Julian Bream's favorite albums, collected and reissued at budget price. Beware that almost all of the albums are from the LP era, so they provide relatively short playing time on CD. Bizarrely, the double-album with John Williams is cut so that only 38 minutes of music is offered, leaving more than half the capacity of the CD unused. Personally, I wish more Spanish music was included, though the Granados/Albeniz album is probably the highlight of the set. The other compelling albums for me are the 20th Century Guitar, the Villa-Lobos album, and the live album made with John Williams. Altogether this is an interesting set, though it is by no means comprehensive. Notes and photos are included.

excellent, grande qualité

It is a fantastic CD, the music and the playing is to die for. Well worth the money, Julian Bream at his best.

Compilación en un cofre de 10 Cds,eso si escasitos en el minutaje, porque son facsímiles de las ediciones en vinilo. Vienen guardados en sobres de cartón, que imitan las antiguas fundas de los discos de vinilo, con el inconveniente de no poder leer los textos en la contraportada, porque están presentadas con una letra a tamaño reducido (habría que utilizar una lupa). También trae un folleto interno de 31 páginas en papel satinado, con unas breves notas explicativas en Inglés,Alemán y Francés. Aquí les resumo los 10 discos del cofre, con las obras y autores: Cd 1) The Art of Julian Bream (44'24"). Con obras de: Girolamo Frescobaldi, Mateo Pérez de Albéniz, Domenico Sacrlatti, Domenico Cimarrosa, Leo Berkeley, Joaquin Rodrigo, Maurice Ravel (Pavana para una infanta difunta) y Albert Roussel. Son piezas cortitas muy agradables y varidas que hacen el disco muy entretenido. Cd 2) Johann Sebastian Bach. Suites de Láud Nº1 y Nº2 (39`09"). Suena a la guitarra de otra forma, pero vale la pena escucharla. Cd 3) Romantic Guitar (43'18"). Con obras de Nicilò Paganini, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Tárrega. Transcripciones para guitarra muy originales del propio Julian Bream. Cd 4) The Woods So Wild (49'31"). Con obras de: Byrd, Francesco Canova da Milano, Dowland, Holborne. Entre las anónimas viene la celebérrima obra Anónima "Greensleeves", a la guitarra suena totalmente diferente, pero muy melancólica. Cd 5) Julian Bream y sus amigos. (47'57"). Boccherini: Quinteto para guitarra en La menor G.451, Introducción y Fandango del Quinteto para guitarra en Re mayor,G.448; Haydn: Cuarteto para Guitarra en Mi mayor, Hob III:8, con los del Cremona String Quartet y George Malcom al Clave. Cd 6) La Guitarra del Siglo XX. (48'07"). Obras de: Reginal Smith Brindle (El Polifemo de Oro), Benjamin Britten ( Nocturnal after John Dowland y como tenor Peter Pears ); Frank Martin (Quatre piéces brèves); Hans Werner Henze (3 Tentos from Kammermusik 1958);Heitor Villalobos (2 Estudios para Guitarra). Cd 7) Rodrigo, Vivaldi y Britten (40'01"). El Concierto de Aranjuez con Sir Colin Davis; The Courtly Dances from Gloriana (Britten); Concierto para Laud, 2 violines y continuo en Re mayor,Rv 93 (A. Vivaldi). Cd 8) Villalobos. (49'15"). Los doce estudios para Guitarra y la Suite Popular Brasileña. Obra de arte de interpretación. Cd 9) Julian Bream & John William Live. (37'40"). Obras de: John Johson, Telemann, Debussy ( Clair de Lune), Isaac Álbeniz (Castilla); Enrique Granados (Oriental de las Danzas Españolas). Cd 10) Julian Bream plays Granados and Álbeniz. Music of Spain, Vol 5. (62`27"). Enrique Granados: Dedicatoria opus 1, La Maja de Goya, Villanesca, Valses Poéticos, Andaluza; Álbeniz :Mallorca, Suite Española Nº 1 y Córdoba.Discos con piezas cortas , bien grabados, con interpretaciones fuera de serie de un gran guitarrista , ameno por la variedad de piezas cortas que reúne,con muchas transcripciones hechas por él mismo, de una calidad exquisita que perfilan un bosquejo y nos da idea aproximada de Julian Bream como artista.Todo esto a un bajo coste,que lo hace muy recomendable.

Man bekommt hier für sehr wenig Geld einen umfangreichen Einstieg in das Gitarrenrepertoire, von Dowland und Bach bis ins 20. Jahrhundert. Julian Bream ist immer interessant (wenn er auch manchmal "künstelt und übertreibt) und die Aufnahmen sind klanglich zumindest adequat, oft auch sehr gut. Für den Preis höchstens empfohlen. Spezialisten werden eher die Gesamtausgabe Bream oder ihre eigenen Lieblingsaufnahmen zusammenstellen.

Ich habe mir diese Sammlung auf Grund einer Empfehlung gekauft. Sie ist sehr abwechslungsreich und man bekommt einen guten Eindruck der Vielseitigkeit Bream's. Für Bream Neulinge ist das meiner Meinung nach der ideale Einstieg, unter anderem auch, weil sie sehr günstig ist.Einige der enthaltenen Alben sind mittlerweile als Einzelstücke vergriffen und können nun glücklicherweise über diese Sammlung wieder erstanden werden.