Miloš - Baroque

Baroque' is Montenegrin classical guitarist Miloš Karadaglić's most virtuosic album to date. That is, he asks the famous question, 'Sonata, what do you want of me?' and listens for an answer before communicating it to us in the clearest, most elegant and most moving fashion.

There are virtually no fireworks here. But there is work. And there is fire. Listen especially to Michael Lewin's arrangement of Rameau's 'The Arts and the Hours' from Les Boréades, which sits very well indeed alongside pianist Víkingur Ólafsson's (DG, 4/20). Or Miloš's transcription of Bach's Chaconne from the D minor Partita for solo violin. Or the Adagio from Marcello's D minor Oboe Concerto. The first, for Miloš's lingering caresses of Rameau's deceptively simple descending phrases. The second, for the extraordinary pacing and pathos of his conception of Bach's cathedral in miniature. The third, for his ability to project a true cantabile line on the guitar: never an easy thing to pull off.

The Marcello, like the Vivaldi and Boccherini, feature the very fine Arcangelo and their director Jonathan Cohen. It always intrigues me when period-instrument outfits team up with pianists or classical guitarists: the results are not always ideal. Here, however, thanks to the obvious chemistry and a shared sense of style and balance, it's a match made in heaven.

I don't want to give a false impression of 'Baroque' as some kind of quasi-philosophical chill album. The faster Vivaldi concerto movements and the Boccherini Fandango are as thrilling as you could hope for, the playing blisteringly good. But Miloš - and this goes for his superb Scarlatti, too - is primarily interested here in delicacy, in gradual unfoldings. And an authentic tenderness for things past.

"He asks the famous question, 'Sonata, what do you want of me?' and listens for an answer before communicating it to us in the clearest, most elegant and most moving fashion." - Gramophone Awards Issue 2023