Reviews

Concert Reviews

... a warmth ad a singing quality that would undoubtedly have made Segovia smile.

Recording Reviews

[on Granado & Falla] ... invaluable, a national treasure... Another year for Barrueco and another year's best.
... the rightness of these interpretations [Chick Corea and Keith Jarrett from Sometime Ago] is attributable to Barroeco's phenomenal technique.
[on Sometime Ago] ..the best-sounding guitar records of any major artist.
[Granados & de Falla] Manuel Barrueco consistently produces some of the most gorgeous guitar recordings available today.
Classical guitaris Manuel Barrueco lavishes his technique and sensitivity on the music of Paul Simon, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett and Lou Harrison. Sometimes he sounds as if he has a laptop orchestra; then comes a pure single-string passage like a strand of gleaming silk.
This disc, [Bach & de Visée] with Barrueco's Albéniz and Villa-Lobos discs, together demonstrate mastery of many different aspects of the guitar; a triptych of excellence that is surely without precendent.
[on Albéniz & Turina] Another artistic triumph from the great Cuban guitarist
Manuel Barrueco is one of the best classical guitarists on the planet ... Barrueco's readings [of Albéniz & Turina] set new standards for musicianship...
[on the Rodrigo CD] This is a virtually ideal Rodrigo disc.
[on the Rodrigo CD] the four songs [Placido Domingo] sings with Barrueco's accompaniment are really gorgeous.
[On Cantos y Danzas] ... this is a superb recording, one to be acquired and treasured.
[On Bach Violin Sonatas] We have come to expect superb performances from Barrueco and in these works we get them. These are performances of dignity and distinction.
Manuel Barrueco's new version [of the Conceierto de Aranjuez] is the best.
[on Cuba!] Five Stars *****. It's an extraordinary musical achievement.

Concert Reviews

[Manuel Barrueco] gave a superbly polished recital at the 92nd Street Y. ... Mr. Barrueco's recital was a picture of stylistic breadth.
Somewhere from the heavens, Segovia was surely smiling down.
The guitar is an instrument that is cradled in the arms next to the heart. When Barrueco plays, it speaks to the heart.
The results, it's safe to say, were magical.
Even more impressive that the overwhelming technique is Barrueco's musicality. This evening of solo playing overflowed with subtleties and conveyed an encounter with an extraordinarily cultivated musician.
With his conscientious obedience to the intentions of the composers, his spotless technical virtuosity, his sensitive use of the possibilities of differentiation of sonorous colors, Barrueco introduced himself as the undisputed crown prince of the present guitar dynasty.
Listening to the Suite No. 2 of Bach, in which the expressive security was translated into melodi passages of clear perfection, one thought spontaneously of the great interpreters, like Wanda Landowska.
He is a superb instrumentalist with a seductive sound and uncommon lyrical gifts.
Barrueco is rare among guitarist for the excitement and the wealth of color he instills in the music he performs. The range of temperament and shading is so varied as to give each work on his program a distinctive sound, a fresh aura.
Even at his showiest, Barrueco remained ... a musician of utter taste and intelligence.
An elegant musician and aristocrat of the guitar ...
A major artist with remarkable musicianship and a world of technique... simply and consistently – awesome.
Manuel Barrueco's guitar recital at Alice Tully Hall was the work of not just a guitarist, but of a superior musician.
Barrueco played the composer's [Vivaldi] Guitar Concerto in D with assured mastery, making its slow movement, one of the most beautiful things Vivaldi ever wrote, especially haunting.