Sergio & Odair Assad Play Rameau, Scarlatti, Couperin, Bach

New Takes on Old Tunes

The Assads have once again produced a unique presentation of songs some of us know by heart. This is a must-have addition to anyone's music collection, and would be an excellent starting point to begin an Assad collection. April 8, 2008

best ever

Perhaps my favoriet of the 3 Assad brothers' CD's I've bought recently - but it's hard to choose because they are amazingly skilled, technically perfect yet completely human in their musical expression. A must buy. November 27, 2007

A new take on old music

"The guitar is not the piano and not the harpsichord. It's right in the middle. The harpsichord is too rigid. You can do more on the piano. But this is really music for the harpsichord, so what the combination of two guitars gives to the music is the range of the piano and the sound of the harpsichord. These sonatas have been played by many guitarists, but they're difficult to transcribe for one guitar. With two guitars, anything is possible."
- Sergio Assad (in the liner notes for Ramaeu, Scarlatti, Couperin, Bach)

I could not agree more with Sergio's assessment of the guitar duo in relation to baroque keyboard music, and I've never enjoyed the genre more than I do listening to this album. The harpsichord and guitar are not as different as one might initially think; the two both use plucked strings, unlike the piano, which uses hammered strings. But the guitar has a much more expressive quality to it than the harpsichord, with a greater range of timbral possibilities. Its only drawback is the difficulty of arranging contrapuntal keyboard music, which generally features multiple simultaneous melodies, for the guitar. Adding a second guitar fixes this problem.
With any other guitarists, the performances might sound disjointed and lose the uniformity that a solo performer brings to the music; but the Assad brothers might as well be one person. They know each other's playing well enough that every dynamic and rhythmic nuance of the music is perfectly synchronized. The only downside: after hearing this album, the harpsichord will never sound good enough again. May 1, 2007

Stunning, simply stunning

I heard the "Cyclops" section of Rameau's inventive suite on XM classics, and I absolutely had to have this CD. I like Rameau and Scarlatti anyway, but I was unprepared for how the Assad duo could sound like one guitar, like a harpsichord but better. This music was originally for keyboard, but it sounds incredible on guitar.

The delicacy of the Assad technique is unequalled by any other guitarists I've heard. How they make this music, I'll never know. But it's one of my favorite cd's and so restful and refreshing. There is a lot of music on this cd and it's all wonderful. April 22, 2007

Fabulous recording by gifted musicians

Let me start by saying that I am not a musician or even a particularly well-trained listener, but I do have a sizable collection of baroque music and guitar music in general. I know what I like, and I absolutely love this recording. The music is beautiful, just beautiful; and the musicianship is, near as I can tell, flawless and expressive. Scarlatti and Bach, sure they are wonderful, but I have become a fan of Ramaeu since buying this CD.

My suggestion: Click on the links to sample the sort of music on this CD. The sound quality will not be very good, of course, but if these songs sound anything close to the sort of music that you like, then buy the CD. Oh, and get the best sound system you can afford. This recording merits being played on the best. Enjoy! December 1, 2006

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