Born in Torino in 1967, Alfredo Franco was involved in non-classical music in his youth before taking up the classical guitar. He then undertook advanced studies in the historical and critical fields in the Department for Art, Music and Theatre of the University of Turin. He would later abandon concert activity as a performer and focus instead on composition. His now prolific classical guitar output has been well received by important interpreters such as Cristiano Porqueddu and increasingly programmed on the stage and in the studio.
This triple-disc set constitutes a broad cross-section of Franco’s solo guitar music. Porqueddu has offered brief comments on some of the many, varied compositions that will be new to many listeners. A Bleached September Sky: multiple short episodes evoking sudden premonitions. A Night’s Tale features a rapid, edgy central section set between a dreamlike beginning and end. Alphabetical Portraits conceptually depicts seven composers by associating the letters in their surnames with notes of the chromatic scale. Inezie deliziose is a collection of miniature album leaves heralding the frivolity of an imaginary past. Fantasia No.7 contrapuntally pays homage to Renaissance vihuelists. Il flauto nel bosco – Omaggio a Grazia Deledda: a sonatina based on the Nobel Prize-winning Sardinian author’s renowned collection of short stories. La regina delle tenebre – Su un racconto di Grazia Deledda is inspired by an eponymous short story, again by the Sardinian author. La guitarra callada – Homage to Frederic Mompou seeks to convey the Catalan composer’s atmospheres. Quaderno di aprile is a minimalist diary, composed almost compulsively along a few days in April. Mirando un cuadro de Goya is one possible interpretation of the painter’s Pavo muerto. Microsuite is designed to provide an introduction to contemporary musical languages. Petite Suite mécanique honours three guitarists from different eras: Robert de Visée, Miguel Llobet and Leo Brouwer. Sette aforismi: short, sparse studies on timbre and colour. Sonatina autunnale sits somewhere between Manuel Ponce and Alfredo Casella. Sonatina estiva pays tribute to Carlo Carrà and his paintings of seaside shacks. Tarreghiana: a theme and variations based on Tárrega’s famous Prelude in A minor. Wintergarten is a farewell stroll in a Schumannesque winter garden, evoking chorales and with variations.
