Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov was fond of Spanish motives which in 1887 inspired him for composing his famous work “Capriccio Espagnol” (literally ‘capriccio on Spanish themes’). Originally the 5-movement composition divided in 2 parts was meant for violin solo and orchestra. But the composer chose to make it purely orchestral in order to highlight the Spanish melodies.
When performed by an orchestra, the piece does sound so lively and cheerful. It was hard for me to imagine it played (and played no less beautifully) on a solo instrument. And even harder it was to imagine its sound on a guitar, solo guitar. Jorge Caballero’s guitar arrangement took me by surprise: so unexpectedly bright and melodic his arrangement turned out to be! Below is the video of that flawless and I must say brilliant performance.
When performed by an orchestra, the piece does sound so lively and cheerful. It was hard for me to imagine it played (and played no less beautifully) on a solo instrument. And even harder it was to imagine its sound on a guitar, solo guitar. Jorge Caballero’s guitar arrangement took me by surprise: so unexpectedly bright and melodic his arrangement turned out to be! Below is the video of that flawless and I must say brilliant performance.
