Piotr Panin - Selected Pieces for Guitar

note: this image is the cover of a different album (for this one I could find nothing); and i included it because it's so cool.

Russian modern guitar works. this collection presents a taut and concise variety of pieces. the first thing the listener notices is a pure formalism uncluttered by decorative bull-shit, even if the style is not recognizable; and secondly a wild and passionate (yet extremely disciplined) spirit in the playing. there is an angularity through out (much like the cubist picture), and the short pieces go the entire gamut from turbulent to calm, from ecstatic to pensive. I personally could not detect traces of the "ethnic" influences as mentioned in the blurb below, either because my ear is not as schooled as I thought, or this collection focuses on a different body of work than what Jean-Pierre Jumez encountered.

"The following evening a small man with slanted eyes picks up my guitar. From the moment he begins playing, I relax in my armchair. It’s obvious that I'm in the presence of a man of extraordinary feeling. He plunges me into a new world, a world that arises from the multitude of cultures that form the Soviet Union—a country he knows well. His playing is not pretentious, it doesn’t deteriorate into brief, explosive flurries or long, drawn-out developments. There are few variations in these concise musical forms, but there is no sense of boredom either. It contains Tartar, Mongolian, Inuit, Chinese, and Russian influences, and dazzles the listener with its fiery passion.This man's name is Piotr Panin. He shows me the 150 manuscripts for guitar and three concertos he has written, which I immeidately offer to have published in the West. But here’s the problem: Panin is self-taught. Therefore he has no musical status or recognition, other than the opportunity to perform with third-class folk bands, which doesn’t even provide him with enough money to make ends meet. He has no chance whatsoever of obtaining the status of performer or composer, since he didn’t attend music school. He lives with a distant cousin and raises chickens in the bathtub. Well, too bad! I’ll have to harass the administration until they come to their senses. At my next recital I perform some of his pieces (the easiest). Afterward all of my records would include a selection of his works. I send a barrage of lavish praise to Moscow. It would take at least seven years for Piotr to obtain the cherished status of composer. Because of constantly being made to feel like an outsider, he decided to change course and sell paintings instead."

- from A GUITAR AROUND THE WORLD by Jean-Pierre Jumez

http://www.sendspace.com/file/e3fio1 or

http://rapidshare.com/files/3834372/Piotr_Panin.zip.html