{"id":148484,"date":"2025-08-22T10:33:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T17:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/?p=148484"},"modified":"2025-08-22T10:33:45","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T17:33:45","slug":"review-classical-guitar-great-sharon-isbin-elevates-new-release-from-composer-karen-lefrak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/review-classical-guitar-great-sharon-isbin-elevates-new-release-from-composer-karen-lefrak\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Classical Guitar Great Sharon Isbin Elevates New Release from Composer Karen LeFrak"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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\"Karen<\/a>
Karen LeFrak, Rom\u00e1ntico (Sharon Isbin, Guitar) (KL2 Recordings)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll admit out front that I had never heard of the prolific New York composer Karen LeFrak before this album came to my attention. I guess she\u2019s quite a big deal in some circles, having created over 300 works, 17 albums (many of impressionistic, always commercially palatable piano music), and, as she boasts in literally every promo piece I\u2019ve read, a truly impressive 45 million streams across global digital platforms. I dipped into a number of her albums over a couple of hours one day, and though much of it is not really my cup of (soothing chamomile) tea, I can affirm that she does have a knack for writing beautiful, expressive melodies and creating moods. Her latest EP<\/a> (at just 26 minutes it doesn\u2019t quite feel like an \u201calbum\u201d) consists of world premiere recordings of three works based around Cuban rhythms and featuring the exquisite classical guitar work of the reliably great Sharon Isbin.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The centerpiece is LeFrak\u2019s \u201cMiami Concerto for Guitar &  Orchestra,\u201d rendered here by the New York-based Orchestra of St. Luke\u2019s under the direction of Enrico Lopez-Ya\u00f1ez. Fair or not, any guitar concerto that embraces classic Spanish tropes is going to be held up against Joaqu\u00edn Rodrigo\u2019s immortal late-1930s jewel, \u201cConcierto de Aranjuez.\u201d Indeed, LeFrak\u2019s work seems to almost invite the comparison: Both are three-movement pieces, with the slower middle one being the emotional standout, and even including a short cadenza (unaccompanied solo; the famous \u201cAranjuez\u201d Adagio has two); and there are a few passages throughout LeFrak\u2019s that feel like echoes of Rodrigo, whether consciously or not. But the good news is that the \u201cMiami Concerto\u201d is very appealing in its own right. The key is LeFrak\u2019s decision to base each movement around a different Cuban rhythm and to spice up her orchestral writing (in the first and third movements) with Latin percussion. Isbin\u2019s guitar\u2014she plays a custom Antonius Mueller instrument\u2014elevates the piece immeasurably, with lines that range from melodic etchings to highly rhythmic strumming, a couple of brisk scale-run flourishes, and even some effective tremolo. I would not be at all surprised to find this concerto being performed quite often.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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