Boccherini, Luigi - Sinfonia Concertante G. 523

Pages	112

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Ophee has championed this Boccherini Sinfonie for forty years, knowing that its relative obscurity was undeserved. This particular chamber work features an intermediate level guitar part not as a solo, but as a member of the ensemble. Ophee notes that this was designed for a not-so-accomplished guitarist, with notes never going above the 10th fret. Regardless, Ophee saw G.523 as an important component of Boccherini's works, and has now brought it to print. The manuscript was found in 1929, but languished for another three decades before being put to use. While a score has been available previously, Ophee painstakingly produced a performance set of parts at long last. He provides extensive notes on the background and arrangement of the work. He further suggests that this Boccherini Sinfonia Concertante is suitable as a student guitarist's introduction to ensemble playing.