Classical Guitar Arrangements from Bizet's Opera Carmen. One might think that it would be impossible to arrange the music of Georges Bizet s opera, Carmen, for solo classic guitar, but Néstor Ausqui has done it! While the guitar is an intimate and sweet-sounding instrument, it does not have a broad dynamic range; yet, as Dionisio Aguado proclaimed in his Nuevo Método para Guitarra of 1843, the classic guitar s expansive palette of tone color gives it the ability to emulate a miniature orchestra . These characteristics make the guitar the ideal instrument to reflect both the character and sensuality of the dances that occur throughout Bizet s Carmen Aragonaise, Habanera, Seguidillas, and Danse Bohéme as well as Carmen s sober Chant de la Mort . Recommended for the advanced guitarist, Carmen Suite is written in standard notation with extensive digitation and occasional drop-D tuning. In Néstor Ausqui s Carmen Suite, the guitar both sings like a human voice and accompanies itself, giving the work an irrefutable guitar identity. The characteristic feeling manifested in Spanish dance is now expressed through the guitar with a full and defined instrumental singularity. Guillermo Rene Alvarez Musicologist, Professor at the Instituto Superior de Mu sica, Universidad Nacional del Litoral-Argentina
