Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741)Concerto in A Major for guitar, violin, viola and cello, RV 82 Concerto in D Major for two violins, lute and basso continuo, RV 93 Concerto in G Major for two mandolines, RV 532 Mauro Giuliani (1781 - 1829) Concerto for guitar, strings and timpani, Op. 30 Federico Torroba (1891 -1982) Sonatina The guitar is an instrument of demonstrable antiquity, although its use in the concert-hall is relatively recent, with an increase in popularity due in part to the performances of players like Andres Segovia, using a more resonant form of the instrument, and in part to less worthy associations. The Venetian composer Antonio Vivaldi, priest and violinist, impresario and teacher, spent most of his working life in his native city, employed intermittently at the Ospedale della Pieta, an institution for the education of orphan, illegitimate or impoverished girls which enjoyed a high musical reputation. Vivaldi wrote nothing for the guitar, but the music he wrote for lute and for mandoline has been appropriated by guitarists for whom it provides a valuable and apt addition to repertoire. The A major Guitar Concerto, RV 82, is in origin a Trio for violin and lute, and this, with the Concerto in D major for lute and two violins, RV 93, is inscribed with the name of Count Johann Joseph von Wrtby, a high official in Bohemia, where he served as royal governor and hereditary treasurer. It is thought that Vivaldi may have met the Count in Prague in 1730, when he was absent from Venice. The G major Double Concerto, RV 532, designed for two mandolines, is splendidly effective in its two guitar version. Mauro Giuliani, born at Bisceglie near Bari in 1781, was a guitar virtuoso, although he started his career as a cellist. He settled in Vienna in 1806 and soon made a reputation for himself there, in competition with Viennese players of lesser ability. He created a particularly strong impression with his Guitar Concerto, Opus 30, which he performed in Vienna in 1808, a work that suited well enough patriotic feelings of the day, with a sprightly principal theme in the first movement, to which the timpani add a martial touch, elements of pathos in the second and a lively finale. In 1813 he played the cello in a famous performance of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, of which Spohr has left a graphic account, and the following year was appointed chamber virtuoso to the Empress Marie-Louise, wife of Napoleon. He spent his later years, until his death in 1829, in Italy once more. As a composer he made a significant and considerable addition to the classical guitar repertoire, of which the Opus 30 Concerto is a good example. Federico Moreno Torroba belongs to a more recent generation of Spanish composers for an instrument closely associated with their country. His attractive Sonatina is characteristic of the kind of music written in this century under the influence of Segovia, a performer of the greatest influence, overtly Spanish and romantic in mood. Dagoberto Linhares The guitarist Dagoberto Linhares was born in Sao Paulo in 1952 and was a pupil of Manuel Sao Marcos and later of his daughter Maria Livia Sao Marcos at the Conservatory of Geneva, where he won first prize in 1973 and the study prize of the Association of Swiss Musicians. In 1972 he joined the teaching staff of the Conservatory of Fribourg and later undertook further study in the master-classes of Turibio Santos, Julian Bream and Andres Segovia. He has enjoyed a busy international career, appearing throughout the world as a recitalist, in chamber music and as a soloist in concertos by Vivaldi, Giuliani, Rodrigo, Villa-Lobos and Castelnuovo-Tedesco. He plays a guitar made by Fleta y Hijos of Barcelona. Camerata Cassovia The Camerata Cassovia is the chamber ensemble of the CSFR State Philharmonic Orchestra which is based in the Eastern Slovakian town of Ko？ice. The orchestra was founded in 1968 and has toured widely within Europe and the Far East. Johannes Wildner Johannes Wildner was born in the Austrian resort of Murzzuschlag in 1956 and studied violin and conducting, taking his diploma at the Vienna Musikhochschule and proceeding to a doctorate in musicology. A member of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, he has toured widely as leader of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra's Johann Strauss Ensemble and of the Vienna Mozart Academy. As a conductor he has directed the Orchestra Sinfonica dell'Emilia Romagna Arturo Toscanini, the Budapest State Opera Orchestra, the Silesian Philharmonic, the Malmo Symphony Orchestra, the Dresden Philharmonic and others. He has recorded works by Schumann, Wagner and Mozart for Naxos and is one of the main conductors in the Marco Polo Johann Strauss II complete edition.