Spanish Serenades Raphaël Feuillâtre

• Isaac Albéniz (1860 - 1906): Suite española No. 1, Op. 47:
• 1 Albéniz: Suite española No. 1, Op. 47: V. Asturias. Leyenda (Transc. Feuillâtre for Guitar) 06:08
• Francisco Tárrega (1852 - 1906): Recuerdos de la Alhambra:
• 2 Tárrega: Recuerdos de la Alhambra 04:02
• Miguel Llobet (1878 - 1938): Catalan Folk Songs:
• 3 Llobet: Catalan Folk Songs: No. 7, El testament d'Amelia 02:10
• 4 Llobet: Catalan Folk Songs: No. 6, Lo fill del rei 01:16
• 5 Llobet: Catalan Folk Songs: No. 13, Cançó del lladre 01:38
• 6 Llobet: Catalan Folk Songs: No. 15, El noi de la mare 01:54
• Isaac Albéniz: España, Op. 165:
• 7 Albéniz: España, Op. 165: V. Capricho Catalan (Transc. Feuillâtre for Guitar) 03:11
• Enrique Granados (1867 - 1916): Danzas españolas, Op. 37:
• 8 Granados: Danzas españolas, Op. 37: No. 10, Danza triste. Melancólica (Transc. Llobet for Guitar) 04:22
• Joaquín Rodrigo (1901 - 1999): Concierto de Aranjuez:
• 9 Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez: I. Allegro con spirito 05:58
• 10 Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez: II. Adagio 10:48
• 11 Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez: III. Allegro gentile 04:59
• Fritz Kreisler (1875 - 1962), Enrique Granados (1867 - 1916): 12 Danzas españolas, Op. 37:
• 12 Kreisler, Granados: 12 Danzas españolas, Op. 37: No. 5, Andaluza. Playera (Transc. Feuillâtre for Guitar & Violin) 04:21
• Francisco Tárrega (1852 - 1909): Capricho árabe:
• 13 Tárrega: Capricho árabe 05:05
• Prelude:
• 14 Tárrega: Prelude No. 1 in D Minor 01:12
• 15 Tárrega: Prelude No. 18 in D Major 00:53
• 16 Tárrega: Prelude No. 34 in D Minor "Endecha" 01:00
• 17 Tárrega: Prelude No. 35 in D Minor "Oremus" 01:02
• 18 Tárrega: Prelude No. 10 in D Major "Inedito" 00:36
• 19 Tárrega: Prelude No. 6 in B Minor 00:50
• 20 Tárrega: Prelude No. 5 in E Major 01:31
• 21 Tárrega: Prelude No. 15 in E Major 00:54
• Isaac Albéniz: Suite española No. 1, Op. 47:
• 22 Albéniz: Suite española No. 1, Op. 47: I. Granada. Serenata (Transc. Tárrega for Guitar) 04:54
• 12 Piezas caracteristicas, Op. 92:
• 23 Albéniz: 12 Piezas caracteristicas, Op. 92: No. 12, Torre Bermeja (Transc. Feuillâtre for Guitar) 03:57
• Enrique Granados: Escenas Románticas:
• 24 Granados: Escenas Románticas: VI. Epílogo (Transc. Feuillâtre for Guitar) 02:33
• Total Runtime 01:15:14

Info for Spanish Serenades

When Raphaël Feuillâtre was given the opportunity to play guitars owned by three of Spain’s finest composers, he jumped at the chance. For his second Deutsche Grammophon album, Spanish Serenades, he has created a programme built around works by Albéniz, Llobet and Tárrega, adding others by their compatriots Granados and Rodrigo. A talented and prolific arranger, Feuillâtre plays five of his own inventive transcriptions of works for solo piano. These include Granados’s Andaluza, which he performs with violinist and fellow DG artist María Dueñas. Spanish Serenades also features the French guitarist’s first recordings with orchestra – he is joined by the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Gábor Takács-Nagy, in Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez.

Guitar aficionados can enjoy the complete album from 6 June 2025, when it is issued digitally. Feuillâtre’s interpretation of Llobet’s Lo fill del rei will be available to stream/download from 9 May, followed on 23 May by his transcription of Granados’s Epílogo.

Through the generosity of several different collectors, Feuillâtre was lent guitars owned by Albéniz, Llobet and Tárrega for this recording, and began planning a tracklist by selecting works by these three influential figures of the Spanish classical world.

Known as the “Sarasate of the guitar”, Francisco Tárrega was a composer, arranger and teacher as well as virtuoso performer. Feuillâtre captures his legacy in the colourful Recuerdos de la Alhambra and Capricho árabe, together with eight of his ingenious preludes for guitar.

Miguel Llobet, who studied with Tárrega, made history as the first classical guitarist to create an electric recording. As a composer, he is perhaps best-known for his harmonisations of Catalan folk songs, four of which feature on Spanish Serenades, as does his transcription of Danza triste. Melancólica from Granados’s Danzas españolas.

Although Tárrega’s friend and contemporary Isaac Albéniz never wrote for the guitar, he loved playing the instrument and often composed with its sound in mind. His piano compositions have inspired countless adaptations, with Feuillâtre here contributing his own transcriptions of Capricho catalán (España), Torre bermeja (12 Piezas características) and Asturias. Leyenda (Suite española No. 1), as well as performing Tárrega’s transcription of Granada. Serenata (it too from the Suite).

“Spanish Serenades is a collection of works that touched my heart as a young musician and sparked what has become a lifelong love for the guitar and its repertoire,” says Raphaël Feuillâtre. “I’m especially thrilled to have recorded several of these works on three remarkable historical guitars owned by some of the composers themselves! They bring a unique character and authenticity to the interpretation, and I’m delighted that listeners will get to experience their unique sound.”

Feuillâtre’s choice of music by Enrique Granados, another renowned pianist-composer, includes his transcription of the lyrical Epílogo from the Escenas románticas. He also teams up with Andalusian violinist María Dueñas in his transcription of Fritz Kreisler’s violin-piano version of Andaluza. Playera, the fifth of the 12 Danzas españolas. Dueñas brings passion and intensity to the work’s melancholy melodic line.

At the heart of the album is Rodrigo’s iconic Concierto de Aranjuez, perhaps the most beloved of all Spanish guitar masterpieces. Sensitive and carefully balanced accompaniment is provided to Feuillâtre by the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra and Takács-Nagy, whether in the lively outer movements, or the lamenting central Adagio.

Raphaël Feuillâtre, classical guitar
María Dueñas, violin
Verbier Festival Orchestra
Gábor Takács-Nagy, conductor

Raphaël Feuillâtre
Born in 1996, Raphaël Feuillâtre starts classical guitar lessons at the age of nine with Hacène Addadi at Cholet Conservatory. In 2012, he enters Michel Grizard’s class at the Conservatory of Nantes. Three years later, he is accepted to Paris National Superior Conservatory of Music and Dance (CNSMDP) into the class of Roland Dyens and obtains his Bachelor of Performing Arts degree in 2017 with highest honors. He is currently working on his Master’s Degree in Classical Guitar Performance with Tristan Manoukian.

Simultaneously, Raphaël is taking classes with Judicaël Perroy, who plays a very important role in his artistic development.

Alongside his studies, Raphaël takes part in various international guitar competitions, obtaining several major awards. In 2017, he wins the 1st prize in the International Guitar Competition Jose Tomas – Villa Petrer in Spain. This enables him to record his first album with JSM Guitar Records in 2018 (Bach, Granados, Tansman, Assad, Dyens) and be invited to multiple festivals in and outside France (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Holland, Montenegro, Spain, Brazil, Argentina, etc.).

Winner of the highly prestigious competition Guitar Fondation of America (GFA) in 2018, Raphaël is preparing the recording of his second opus (Naxos Label, 2019) and a six month tour around USA and Canada, as well as Mexico and Japan during 2019-2020 season.

Raphaël divides his time between performing and teaching. He regularly gives Master Classes during his numerous festival concert trips and has a permanent teaching position at the Music School of Villeneuve-la-Garenne in Paris region.

This album contains no booklet.