“Cuatro Siglos de Guitarra Española”: Alirio Diaz (2 CDs) Vanguard Classics / Arcade (Europe) 08 9003 72 (1992) 3351479003724:
Reissue “The Spanish Guitar” (2 CDs) Vanguard Classics / Arcade (Europe) 08 9194 72 (1993) 3351479194729:
Recorded 1961 and 1965
An exquisite recital of Spanish guitar and a generous offering by Vanguard Europe
Originally posted on Amazon.com, 9 April 2014, completed for repost (March 2025)
These two sets, Vanguard 08 9003 72 “Cuatro Siglos de Guitarra Española” from 1992 and its 1993 reissue on Vanguard 08 9194 72 “The Spanish Guitar”, contain the generous compilation, made by Vanguard Europe (a Dutch company called “Arcade” held the European distribution rights in the 1990s), of almost three CDs, featuring guitarist Alirio Diaz, issued in North America by Vanguard USA/Omega Records, the company of Vanguard’s founder Seymour Solomon, which then held the distribution rights of the Vanguard catalog for the North-American market: OVC 5006 “Four Centuries of Spanish Guitar”, OVC 5004 “Masterpieces of the Spanish Guitar”, and OVC 8069 “The Virtuoso Guitar” (links will open new tabs to my reviews, with surveys of the CD-editions and LP sources). Only the Guitar Concerto (originally for lute) of the obscure Karl Kohaut (1726-1784) was left out from the latter disc, for a TT of nearly 2 hours 25.
I have the 1993 reissue and the set’s scanty product info doesn’t give the recording dates, but from the Schwann catalogs in my possession and various other online sources (special thanks to Worldcat) I could establish recording dates and venues and first LP editions: 
“Masterpieces” was recorded on 4-6 October 1961 in Judson Hall, NYC and released in April 1963 on Vanguard VRS-1084; “Four Centuries” was taped in April 1965 (same venue) and released 
in January 1966 on Vanguard VRS-1135 (mono)/VSD-71135 (stereo) under the title “Four Centuries of Music for the Classic Spanish Guitar”; and finally, the Concertos were taped in 
June 1965 in the Grossesaal of the Musikverein in Vienna, and came out in 1966 on Vanguard VRS 1152 /VSD 71152, an LP titled “The virtuoso guitar (Vol.2)”.
And if you wonder, as I did, what might have been Vanguard’s “The virtuoso guitar (vol. 1)”, it was on 
Vanguard The Bach Guild BG-618 (mono), Stereolab / The Bach Guild BGS 5043 (stereo) with guitarist Karl Scheit and The Wiener Solisten under Wilfried Böttcher, with Concertos of Vivaldi, Torelli and Carulli and two Galliards of Dowland, recorded (thanks Worldcat) on January 12, 13, 18, and June 23, 1961 at the Baumgartner Kasino, Vienna. It too has been reissued to CD (with the bonus of three unpublished Encores), but, for some reason, not under the Vanguard label, but on Solomon’s own Omega Records, OCD 1020, barcode 0723918102023. 
. Why release that one under the Omega rather than the Vanguard label? I don’t know, there were a few other such cases. Ironically, in the CD reissues the Diaz Concerto recording, originally “vol. 2”, became just “Virtuoso Guitar”, and the Scheit recital was demoted to “vol. 2”. The discographic research I undertook for the 2025 repost of my reviews of Alirio Diaz’ Vanguard recordings has also yielded that Musical Heritage Society has reissued to CD not only this Vanguard Scheit recital (now under the title “The Virtuoso Guitar – Masterpieces of the Classical Guitar vol. 3”, MHS 5182930 barcode 717794829327, 2006, link to the disc’s entry on Discogs.com), but also two others that, from what I could establish, were never reissued to CD by Seymour Solomon: “Masterpieces of the Classical Guitar vol. 1 – From the Renaissance Lutanists to the Classic Virtuosi” MHS 5182958 (2006 reissue 2008) 717794829525 and “Renaissance and Baroque Music for Lute & Guitar – Masterpieces of the Classical Guitar vol. 2” MHS 5182949 (2006) 717794829426. But I digress: the subject here is Alirio Diaz. I’ll probably write a survey of these Scheit reissues and their LP sources.
Back to these Alirio Diaz sets then, here’s the track listing (I’ve complemented the CD’s scanty information with the more detailed data found online):
CD 1
(Four Centuries)
1. Alfonso de Mudarra Fantasia No. 5 for vihuela
2. Luys de Narváez Diferencias (7) for guitar on “Guárdame las vacas”
3. Arrt. Llobot (should be Miguel Llobet) Cancion popular Catalan “La Filla del marxant”. Llobot is the arranger)
4. Gaspar Sanz Folías, for guitar (from Instrucción de música sobre la guitarra española, Book 2)
5. Domenico Scarlatti Sonata in G minor
6. Domenico Scarlatti Sonata in G major
7. Domenico Scarlatti Sonata in E minor
8. Fernando Sor Etude for guitar in B minor (Segovia Edition No. 5), Op. 35/22
9. Fernando Sor Etude for guitar in A major (Segovia Edition No. 12), Op. 6/6
10. Francisco Tárrega Danza Mora for guitar
11. Federico Moreno Torroba Nocturno for guitar in A minor
12. Regino Sainz de la Maza Zapateado for guitar
13. Enriqué Granados Spanish Dance No. 5 from 12 Spanish Dances for piano Op. 37
14. Heitor Villa-Lobos Estudio, for guitar No. 11 in E minor, A. 235/11
15. Eduardo Sainz de la Maza Bolero
16. Manuel de Falla Farruca from The Tri-Cornered Hat
Three Venezuelan traditional tunes:
17. Estrella del mar
18. Cántico
19. Quirpa Guatireña
20. Joaquín Rodrigo En los trigales, for guitar (Por los campos de España No. 1)
21. Isaac Albéniz Asturias, Leyenda, No. 5 from Suite española No. 1, for piano, Op. 47
(Masterpieces)
22. Albeniz (transcr. Lozano) Torre Bermeja from 12 Piezas caracteristicas for piano Op. 92
23. Albeniz/Segovia Granada from Suite española for piano Op. 47
24. Albeniz/Azpiazuk Sevilla from Suite española for piano Op. 47
25. Albeniz/Segovia Zambra granadina from 12 Piezas caracteristicas for piano Op. 92
TT 70:55
CD 2
1. Granados La maja de Goya from Tonadillas al estilo antiguo, 10 songs for voice and piano
2. Falla Homenajes for guitar, pour le tombeau de Claude Debussy
3. Joaquin Malats/Segovia Serenata española for piano in F major
4. Segovia Remembranza for guitar
5. Turina Fandanguillo Op. 36 for guitar
6. Federico Moreno Torroba Sonatina for guitar in A major
Eduardo Sainz de la Maza 4 Spanish Pieces for guitar
7. Campanas del Alba
8. El Vita
9. Habanera
10. Boceto Andaluz
(Virtuoso Guitar)
11-13 Vivaldi Guitar Concerto in A Major (after the Trio Sonata in C for lute, violin, continuo RV 82)
14-16 Vivaldi Guitar Concerto in C major (originally concerto for mandolin, strings & continuo R. 425)
17-19 Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco Guitar Concerto No. 1 in D major op. 99
TT 73:44
As with about all the Vanguard CD reissues that I’ve heard, the sonics are great, clear, present, vivid, natural. I don’t think Vanguard enjoys the same audiophile aura as contemporary labels from the LP era like Everest or Mercury, but on the basis of what I hear on those CD reissues, they should have, and should still. There is a difference of sonic perspective between “Four Centuries” and “Masterpieces” and tracks 21 and 22, which points to the different recording dates and circumstances: the latter was, apparently, recorded in mono, which for 1963 seems pretty amazing, but then a guitar doesn’t necessarily need stereo spread. All I can say is that my CD transfer doesn’t not sound at all mono. Yes, there’s an extra environing fullness to the sound of “Four Centuries”, but I wouldn’t even say that it is significantly “better” than the sound of “Masterpieces”, the ear adjusts in a second. If “Masterpieces” is in mono, who needs stereo, and who needs digital.
Vanguard USA later CD-reissued the two solo recitals on their more uppity series, “Ultra Analog 20 bit digital”, SVC 48 “Masterpieces” and SVC 49 “Four Centuries” (see my reviews of OVC 5004 and 5006 for barcodes and cover photos, see links above). I don’t know if they were remastered and sound significantly better. As it is on this twofer, frankly, I wish for nothing more.
And now that these petty details are sorted out, comes the essential consideration: the music and music-making. They are lovely. The dual program of solo pieces is well-chosen, with compositions that are essentially gentle and non-aggressive, but with all the color, atmosphere and wistfulness of Spanish music – and Falla’s brooding Homenajes, written to the memory of Debussy, is even more than that. I’m not a great connoisseur of guitar music and guitar technique, so my judgment is worth what it is worth: I find that Venezuelan Alirio Diaz plays exquisitely, and I particularly appreciate that I hear only very little of that “metallic scratching on the strings” when the guitarist’s fingers “wipe” from one note to the other, which many don’t seem to care about, but which I find particularly obtrusive (as much as the sound of Claudio Arrau’s fingernails hitting on the piano keys), and not part of the music written by the composer.
The Vivaldi Concertos show more their age, stylistically. The transcription of the Trio-Sonata sounds a bit thick, stately, proper and polite – Vivaldi from the 1960s – and the guitar is certainly no “authentic” substitute for the lute. But the C-major, with its explosive orchestral pizzicati in the first movement, still sounds great and highly pleasurable, independent of any consideration of style and “authenticity”: the Vivaldi we love. The Concerto of Castelnuovo-Tedesco is pleasurable and inconsequential, fluffy, colorful, pretty and undemanding, veering between the insouciant music of “Les Six” and the sunny lyricism of Rodrigo, and with a vigorous and boisterous Finale, sounding very much like a possible soundtrack for “Zorro”. But anyway, the three concertos are pure bonus. The two solo programs alone warrant the purchase of this set, if you can find it at an affordable price.