What's on the box?

French free-to-air TV is dire, so it's much more rewarding to find interesting stuff on YouTube. Here's one of the more tasteful offerings, Hopkinson Smith (see earlier posting) playing some pieces on vihuela: Conde Claros, Cancion del Emperador, and Baxa de Contrapunto by Luis de Narvaez, from Los seys libros del delphin published in 1538.



It's taken from the New York Guitar Festival's third biennial Guitar Marathon. They've posted quite a few other videos of various players, including this one of Paul O'Dette playing baroque guitar: Santiago de Murcia's Passacalles por la E and Fandango.



Other YouTube viewings include Tom Jobim (the man himself), Cellorhythmics (so that's what Alfia Bekova is doing now), and various plectrum guitarists tackling Paganini Caprices, some quite successfully.