Platero y yo: An Andalusian Elegy Niklas Johansen

• Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895 - 1968): Platero y yo, Op. 190 (Version for Solo Guitar):
• 1 Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Platero y yo, Op. 190 (Version for Solo Guitar): I. Platero 03:19
• 2 Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Platero y yo, Op. 190 (Version for Solo Guitar): II. Angelus 04:29
• 3 Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Platero y yo, Op. 190 (Version for Solo Guitar): III. Return 04:32
• 4 Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Platero y yo, Op. 190 (Version for Solo Guitar): IV. Spring 01:57
• 5 Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Platero y yo, Op. 190 (Version for Solo Guitar): V. The Well 03:20
• 6 Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Platero y yo, Op. 190 (Version for Solo Guitar): VI. Sparrows 03:33
• 7 Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Platero y yo, Op. 190 (Version for Solo Guitar): VII. Melancholy 04:35
• 8 Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Platero y yo, Op. 190 (Version for Solo Guitar): VIII. Friendship 02:30
• 9 Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Platero y yo, Op. 190 (Version for Solo Guitar): IX. The Moon 02:17
• 10 Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Platero y yo, Op. 190 (Version for Solo Guitar): X. Twilight Games 03:38
• 11 Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Platero y yo, Op. 190 (Version for Solo Guitar): XI. Ronsard 03:33
• 12 Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Platero y yo, Op. 190 (Version for Solo Guitar): XII. The Crazy Man 02:43
• 13 Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Platero y yo, Op. 190 (Version for Solo Guitar): XIII. The Consumptive Girl 03:36
• 14 Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Platero y yo, Op. 190 (Version for Solo Guitar): XIV. Nostalgia 04:36
• 15 Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Platero y yo, Op. 190 (Version for Solo Guitar): XV. White Butterflies 01:39
• 16 Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Platero y yo, Op. 190 (Version for Solo Guitar): XVI. April Idyll 03:23
• 17 Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Platero y yo, Op. 190 (Version for Solo Guitar): XVII. The Canary's Flight 04:09
• 18 Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Platero y yo, Op. 190 (Version for Solo Guitar): XVIII. Lullaby 05:43
• 19 Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Platero y yo, Op. 190 (Version for Solo Guitar): XIX. The Canary Dies 07:14
• 20 Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Platero y yo, Op. 190 (Version for Solo Guitar): XX. November Idyll 04:46
• 21 Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Platero y yo, Op. 190 (Version for Solo Guitar): XXI. Death 04:03
• 22 Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Platero y yo, Op. 190 (Version for Solo Guitar): XXII. Convalescence 04:50
• 23 Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Platero y yo, Op. 190 (Version for Solo Guitar): XXIII. Swallows 04:22
• 24 Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Platero y yo, Op. 190 (Version for Solo Guitar): XXIV. Wayside Flower 04:01
• 25 Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Platero y yo, Op. 190 (Version for Solo Guitar): XXV. Sunday 03:11
• 26 Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Platero y yo, Op. 190 (Version for Solo Guitar): XXVI. The Gypsies 04:02
• 27 Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Platero y yo, Op. 190 (Version for Solo Guitar): XXVII. Carnival 04:47
• 28 Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Platero y yo, Op. 190 (Version for Solo Guitar): XXVIII. To Platero in the Heaven of Moguer 03:58
• Total Runtime 01:48:46

Info for Platero y yo: An Andalusian Elegy

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s 36-year collaboration with the legendary guitarist Andrés Segovia resulted in 35 works featuring the guitar, including three concertos several large cycles and numerous shorter pieces.

Castelnuovo-Tedesco first met Segovia at a festival in Venice in 1932 and composed a new work for the legendary guitarist almost every year afterwards. Among the towering masterpieces in guitar literature is Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Platero y Yo (Platero and I), a cycle of consisting of 28 settings, arranged into four groups of seven-movement suites with a total playing time of 1 hour and 49 minutes. Originally conceived as an accompaniment for a recitation of selections from the Nobel Prize winning Catalan poet Juan Ramon Jiménez’s collection of poetic sketches of the same name, the composer gave his permission for the work to be performed without spoken text, which is how it is performed here. You can read Jiménez’s texts in English translation while listening to the music and enjoying the wonder- ful illustrations for each movement by the award-winning artist Halfdan Pisket especially commissioned for this recording.

In preparation for bringing this masterwork to life, internationally acclaimed, multi prize-winning Danish guitarist Niklas Johansen not only studies the Spanish language to appreciate Jiménez’s prose-poems in their native language, but travelled to Spain, not far from Jiménez’s hometown of Moguer. The close relationship with the language and culture has lent Johansen’s interpretations a personal resonance.

This album was recorded in Fredensborg Palace Chapel by the Danish masters of sound, Preben Iwan and Mette Due who beautifully captured the exceptional acoustics. We wish to express our sincere thanks to His Majesty King Frederik X, who personally granted us permission to record in Fredensborg Palace Chapel.

Niklas Johansen, classical guitar

Niklas Johansen
is a classical guitarist born in 1989 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He has recently received international acclaim after winning several international competitions. His prizes include: 1st prize in the 3rd International Guitar Competition in Pleven (Bulgaria) 2017 1st prize in the 6th International Guitar Competition in Berlin (Germany) 2016, 1st prize in the 2016 China Shenyang International Guitar Competition, 1st prize in the 18th “Alirio Diaz” International Guitar Competition in Rust (Austria) 2016, 1st prize in the 21st International Guitar Competition in Mottola (Italy) 2015, 2nd prize in the 17th International Guitar Competition “Alirio Diaz” in Rust (Austria) 2015, 1st prize in the 3rd International Guitar Festival “Aachener Gitarrenpreis” (Germany) 2014, 1st prize in the 9th International Guitar Competition in Olsztyn (Poland) 2014.

Niklas started playing the guitar at the age of 9, and began his studies in 2009 at the Royal Danish Academy of Music under Jesper Sivebæk. After finishing his bachelor exam and obtaining the highest grade possible, he went to Alicante in 2013 and finished his Master’s in Classical Guitar Performance with professors David Russell, Manuel Barrueco and others. After finishing his final exam and obtaining the highest grade possible, he received the Latin honor “cum laude”. In 2014 he went abroad for one year and studied with Ricardo Gallén at the Hochschule Für Musik Franz Liszt in Weimar, Germany. In 2015 he played his Master’s Recital in Denmark and received the highest grade.

He has played concerts as a soloist and in chamber ensambles in Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Iceland, The Faroe Islands, China, Russia and Spain. Furthermore he has recorded his debut CD in 2016 with the Italian label dotGuitar. Alongside his studies and career, he has attended several classes with high-profiled guitarists such as Marcin Dylla, Alvaro Pierri, Pavel Steidl, Scott Tennant, Ana Vidovic, Judicael Perroy, Aniello Desiderio and Zoran Dukic.

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