The repertoire here is firmly post-Segovia, written in idioms from which the maestro would have shrunk; he did indeed reject the tentative serialism of Martin's Quatre pieces breves and only at the end of his life did he accept ''some parts of'' the Nocturnal of Britten. This disc serves as a timely reminder that it was Bream, with his first recording of both the Martin and the Britten in 1966 (available within ''The Bream Edition'' on RCA, 8/93), who led the guitar into the twentieth century.
No one can truly reach into the depths of the Nocturnal until Life has taught them some hard lessons, nor, perhaps, can they perceive the Innigkeit of Martin's work; Bream, now in his sixty-first year and with his technical armoury totally at the service of his emotions, demonstrates the truth of this in performances of moving intensity. Age has not dimmed his enthusiasm for pastures new: Brouwer's strong, and in places wryly humorous, Sonata with its teasing references to the composers to whom its three movements pay tribute, and Takemitsu's introspective All in Twilight, were written at his behest and are communicated with wonderful clarity. What Gareth Walters, the annotator, aptly describes as the ''simple charm'' of Bream's arrangements of Polish folk-melody settings by Lutoslawski brings the recital to a lighter conclusion. The old wine has matured beautifully and the new is of vintage status. The temptation to say that Bream has rarely played (or been recorded) better than here is too strong to resist!'