Lorenzo Micheli was born in Milan and graduated cum laude from the prestigious G. Tartini Conservatory in Trieste. In 1999 he was the first Italian to win the grand prize at the Guitar Foundation of America Competition, a prize that included a solo recital tour of over fifty cities throughout the U.S. and Canada. This Naxos disc features Micheli in the studio playing the music of one of his countrymen, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. Castelnuovo-Tedesco was one of Italy's most promising young composers in the 1920s. A Sephardic Jew, Castelnuovo-Tedesco felt an affinity for Spanish music and culture that is reflected in much of his work. Unfortunately, he was forced out of Italy once state-approved anti-Semitism took hold. Castelnuovo-Tedesco's music is deliciously rhapsodic, and Micheli's guitar sings gloriously in this program. 'Escarramán' is a suite of Spanish dances inspired by Cervantes. Micheli plays this colorful work with grace and verve. Two movements are standouts: "El Canario," an elegant dance that displays Micheli's fluid technique; and "El rey Don Alonso el Bueno," a charming set of variations on an old nursery tune. Micheli has fire to spare, and dazzles with his picking technique in the spicy 'Tarantella,' Op.87b.
