Tariq Harb Plays Capriccio Diabolico Op.85 by Tedesco

Guitarist Tariq Harb plays Capriccio Diabolico “Omaggio a Paganini”, Op.85 by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895–1968). Video by Drew Henderson. This comes via his amazing YouTube Channel. He has a great blurb about the work on his YouTube:

One of my absolute favourite pieces in the repertoire is this majestic caprice and homage by Tedesco. Composed in 1935, Castelnuovo-Tedesco dedicated it to the Spanish master Andrés Segovia. Segovia commissioned the work as a tribute to the romantic virtuoso Niccolò Paganini. Castelnuovo-Tedesco did not try to reproduce the style of Paganini in the piece (although he did included a beautiful quote at the very end from Paganini’s ‘La Campanella’) but rather gave shape to a ‘pastiche musical’ where the element of technical virtuosity is one of the protagonists. The dedicatee made heavy revisions on the composition and premiered it including these revisions which, despite the strong association that linked the two personalities, did not please the composer, and this led to a brief cooling of their relationship. Nevertheless, this performance largely showcases Segovia’s edition which was republished in 1967 by Recordi. The original version of the composition with a revision entirely based on the original manuscript was also republished in 2001 by Bèrben. To better understand Niccolò Paganini’s musical effect on both the public and his contemporaries in his time, I invite you to watch this very interesting Christopher Nupen documentary entitled “Paganini’s Daemon, A Most Enduring Legend.” Please enjoy! 🙂

Sheet Music: I recommend this newer edition by Gilardino but there is also the old Segovia one.

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  1. Bradford,
    Thanks for a great year!! Because of your review of the Cordoba C12, I bought one. More that I will ever need but thank you