TRACKING LIST

 

1. Claude Debussy – La fi lle aux cheveux de lin (02:38)

2. Georges Migot – Pour un Hommage à Claude Debussy (11:25)

(unpublished version, edited by Michele Festa)

◦ Prélude

◦ Pastorale

◦ Postlude

3. Jacques Ibert – Française (03:26)

4. Francis Poulenc – Sarabande (02:25)

5. Henri Tomasi – Le Mule! er des Andes (03:15)

6. Albert Roussel – Segovia, Op. 29 (02:53)

(unpublished version, edited by Michele Festa)

7. Pierre de Bréville – Fantaisie (06:15)

8. Gustave Samazeuilh – Sérénade (04:35)

9. Jacques Ibert – Aritte (02:17)

10. Georges Auric – Hommage à Alonso Mudarra (01:37)

11. Darius Milhaud – Segoviana, Op. 366 (03:42)

12. Pierre-Octave Ferroud – Spiritual (02:36)

13. Claude Debussy – Minstrels (02:33)

(transcription by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco)

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Total Time: 49:43

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MICHELE FESTA

 

PARIS, FRANCE AND THE GUITAR

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This recording explores the unique relationship between Paris and the guitar from the early twentieth century to the late 1960s, a period shaped by the artistic vitality of La belle époque and its lasting influence. At the turn of the century, Paris was the cultural capital of Europe, a place where new artistic ideas flourished across literature, painting, ballet, and music. The composers featured on this CD, all born between 1861 and 1901, were deeply influenced by this creative environment.

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Although most of the works included here were composed several decades later, they are closely connected to the figure of the legendary Spanish guitarist Andrés Segovia, whose Paris debut in 1924 sparked an unprecedented interest in the guitar among French composers. Many of the pieces recorded were dedicated to Segovia and emerged from the enthusiasm generated by his performances, even if they were not directly commissioned by him. Some of these works remained unpublished for many years and have only become accessible through the archives of the Fundación Andrés Segovia.

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The programme highlights the pivotal role of Manuel de Falla, whose Homenaje a Debussy (1920) established a symbolic link between Claude Debussy and the guitar and marked a turning point in the instrument’s modern repertoire. Alongside transcriptions and arrangements associated with Segovia, the CD presents original works that reveal a remarkable diversity of styles, ranging from impressionistic colour and poetic nostalgia to bold polytonality and folkloric vitality.

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As a tribute to the spirit of the period, guitarist Michele Festa performs this repertoire on a historical guitar built by Santos Hernández, offering an authentic and evocative sound world that reconnects the listener with the Parisian musical imagination of the twentieth century.

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John Griffiths

RELEASE DATE: 27th December 2025

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Credits

Producers: Francisco Bernier (Contrastes Records)

Sound engineer: Marco Taio

Place of recording: Crema, Italy

Recording date: 2024

Liner notes: John Griffi ths

Photographer: Alexandre Zveiger

Graphic designer: David Rezco

Publisher: Contrastes records

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