The Art Of Segovia is a 2 CD set released by Deutsche Grammophon in 2002. Disc 1 has 18 tracks, while disc 2 has 23, with almost 160 minutes of enjoyment.

We all know that Andrés Segovia is the Master of classical guitar. What set this set apart from his other compilation is the tremendous varieties and various works by 26 different composers! After you have listened to all the 41 tracks, you will truly and deeply appreciate how versatile he is. The great techniques were also demonstrated. All the tracks are solo efforts, except one. The one track with an orchestra backing (Joaquin Rodrigo's Danza de las hachas) really reminds me of the music of Nino Rota in Romeo and Juliet. Simply beautiful.

I also appreciate the denotation of place and year of each recording in the accompanied booklet (from 1952 - 1969). And it really takes a Master to be able to interpret so many different works by so many different composers.

The song listing is as follows with the year of recording made noted:

Disc 1:
Francisco Tárrega (1852-1909)
01 Recuerdos de la Alhambra: Andante (5:07) 1955
02 Capricho árabe: Serenata para guitarra: Andantino (5:21) 1955
03 Marieta! Mazurka para guitarra: Lento (2:19) 1955

Frederico Moreno Torróba (1891-1982)
04 Romance de los pinos (1:37) 1960
05 Madroños (2:49) 1952
06 Serenata burlesca (2:51) 1954

Fernando Sor (1778-1839)
07 Tema con variaciones, op. 9: Variations on a Theme from Mozart's The Magic Flute (7:00) 1952

Manuel De Falla (1876-1946)
08 Homenaje "Le Tombeau De Claude Debussy" (2:34) 1952

Manuel Ponce (1992-1948)
09 Theme, Variations & Finale (7:51) 1954
10 Canción mexicana No. 10 (1:26) 1954

Joaquin Turina (1882-1949)
11 Fantasia op 29 : Sevillana (5:52) 1967

Joaquin Rodrigo (1901-1999)
12 Sarabanda (4:58) 1954

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968)
13 Capricho Diabolico, op. 85: Omaggio A Paganini (9:07) 1954
14 Tonadilla for Guitar op. 170 (5:04) 1955

Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)
15 5 Preludes, No. 1 in E minor (4:17) 1952
16 5 Preludes, No. 3 in A minor (5:06) 1954

Felipe Pedrell (1841-1922)
17 Guitarreo (1:21) 1954

Albert Roussel (1869-1937)
18 Segovia, Op. 29 (2:48) 1958

Disc 2:
John Dowland (1563-1626)
01 Song: "If my complaints can passions move" (2:04) 1969
02 The Frog Galliard (Now, o now I need must part) (0:44)1969

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
03 Suite for Harpsichord No. 4 in D minor, HWV 437: Sarabande (3:52) 1952

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
04 Cello Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007: 1 Prelude (2:14) 1952
05 Violin Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002: 4 Tempo di Bourrée (3:31) 1952
06 Cello Suite No. 3 in C major, BWV 1009: 3 Courante (2:53) 1952
07 Violin Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006: 3 Gavotte en Rondeau (2:52) 1954

Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643)
08 Aria e Corrente (6:34) 1954

Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
09 Sonata in C minor, K. 11 (L. 352): Moderato (3:09) 1956

Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764)
10 Nouvelles suites de pièces de clavecin: Menuet in G major (3:33) 1954

Manuel Ponce (1992-1948) after Nicolò Paganini (1782-1840)
11 Andantino variato (7:33) 1952

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
12 24 Preludes, Prelude No. 7 in A major, Op 28 (0:50) 1952

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
13 String Quartet No. 1 In E Flat, Opus 12 - 2 Canzonetta (4:26) 1954

César Franck (1822-1990)
14 L'Organiste, FWV 41: 2 Quasi lento (Preludio)(1:08) 1954
15 L'Organiste, FWV 41: 1 Andantino poco Allegretto (Allegretto)(2:59) 1954

Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881)
16 Pictures at an Exhibition: 2 Il vecchio castello (4:45) 1958

Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
17 Lyric Pieces IV, op. 47: 3 Melodie: Allegretto (3:26) 1954

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
18 Préludes, Livre I: 8 La Fille aux cheveux de lin (2:46) 1962

Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915)
19 5 Preludes, op. 16: No. 4 in E flat minor (1:05) 1956

Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909)
20 Suite Española: 5 Asturias. Leyenda - Preludio (6:20) 1952
21 Piezas caracteristicas: 7 Zambra Grandina (4:41) 1961

Andrés Segovia (1893-1987)
22 Estudio sin luz (2:41) 1958

Joaquin Rodrigo (1901-1999)
23 Fantasia para un gentilhombre: 3 Danza de las hachas (Symphony of the Air: Enrique Jorda)(2:10) 1958

SOUND:

I also appreciate that Deutche Grammophon remastered each track using 24-bit/96kHz from the original master tapes. Therefore, the source that we are listening to is excellent.

But, the digital engineers just simply laid the tracks down, without bothering to properly remastering the sound. Therefore, the amplitude you see in the wave file on the computer screen is very low. That means that you have to turn the volume dial high in order to properly hear the beautiful guitar sound, but the vibrancy and details are lost somewhere along the way. I personally used Sound Forge 32-bit/96kHz to remaster every track, bringing them to their former glory. There was also a big "click" in one of the track, that the engineer missed. Fortunately, I declicked it and the final result was excellent. The contents: 5+/5.

The extended professional career of Andrés Segovia (1893-1987) enabled him to witness the extraordinary technical achievements of the sound recording: the microgroove, the use of stereo and even modern digital recording. He would be thrilled to see how careful digital remastering and modern technology can transform his music to "live" form, to be shared by millions of classical guitar music lovers. I wish digital engineers will take some extra time to remaster each track carefully, thus making the final sound more vibrant for ALL listeners to share.

Of course, the above 2 CD set is very highly recommended for all classical guitar music lovers. I hope the above review is helpful to you.