One might describe Goran Sollscher as 'the thinking man's guitarist': one who does nothing he has not thought through, and who has the technical fire-power to make himself clear. He brings these qualities to his readings of the three most played (and recorded) of all guitar-and-orchestra works, and without once sacrificing tonal purity. Sweden is far from Spain (as also the USA, where the recording was made) and there is something of Scandinavian cool in these performances; seekers after 'Spanish fire' will not find it here, and may, too, be impatient with some easygoing tempos in both the Rodrigo works. Sollscher approaches all three works with restraint, never depending on digital fireworks or exaggerated emotional gestures to convey an impression of heated involvement or temperament. Yet few have revealed so much detail as he and the splendid conductorless Orpheus Chamber Orchestra do here, in which they are aided by a recording that is unusually well balanced, except in the first movement of the Aranjuez, where some of the guitar's pyrotechnics are submerged by some ill-judged orchestration that needs a little help from the soloist's friends.
None of this is profound music, with depths that remain to be plumbed, or spiritual messages that have still to be revealed, and there are already many versions of all of it on CD (even more on LP) which stress its virtuosic and nationalistic character. Sollscher leans less on these aspects; he is, above all, true to his own, more tranquil nature and to his concern with refined music-making. For this reason I avoid comparisons and commend this recording to anyone who is prepared to believe that there is another viable view of these amiable works, one in which the head controls the heart—but does not stifle its beating.'