Popular Classics for Spanish Guitar features the virtuosic
Julian Bream at his interpretive best and an exemplary choice of repertoire, and it has been acknowledged as one of the all-time best guitar albums since its original LP release in 1963. That said, the sound of this super-audio digital remastering is hard to take. The original LPs were somewhat distant, but they were clean, honest, and present. On a conventional playback system, however, this remastering sounds so far off that it can hardly be said to be present in any meaningful way. One can hear
Bream's strong, supple, and sensitive performances, but he sounds like he's playing somewhere deep inside a vast, empty cave.