• Aire Norteno; Cancion del Yucatan; Preludios Nostalgicos; Cancion de Cuna; Preludio Campero; Impresiones Argentinas; Aire de Vidalita; De mi tierra; Barcarola

The "Grande Dame of the guitar" is remembered through a new recording of her own music.

María Luisa Anido (1907-1996) was born in Argentina and grew up in a household in which the guitar played a central role. Her father brought home many of the great artists she heard and who listened to her. Miguel Llobet, himself a pupil of Tárrega, became one of her first teachers, although Domingo Prat was the most important. She met Andres Segovia after one of his concerts when she was about 10 years old and he was in his early 20s, and her own recordings rival Segovia's, both in terms of technical finesse and a natural feel for the colors and rhythms of the Spanish guitar tradition.

Cinzia Milani notes in an introduction to her new recording of Anido's own compositions that "there are moments when the technical essence of Anido's handling of the fretboard, especially in the higher registers, is so special that one has the impression of knowing exactly what her hands were like." Milani concludes her album with Anido's first and perhaps best-known piece, the Barcarola, which she composed at the age of 20. Llobet then heaped well-deserved praise on her: "I have read and played your Barcarola; the voices are carried magnificently with an admirable sense of their natural qualities; the timbres are perfect. Bravo, very well done."

This is only the second album ever devoted to Anido's music, and Cinzia Milani's recording is a landmark in guitar music on record and in Brilliant Classics' extensive guitar library. The most comprehensive collection here is a set of nine Impresiones Argentinas, offering an overview of the folk music of her homeland. Individual movements take up melodies and rhythms of the Indians, mestizos, pampan and northwest Creoles.

The Impresiones Argentinas are wonderfully relaxed and earthy pieces that tell of everyday experiences in an unaffected way. No wonder Anido charmed Soviet audiences with them during her tours in the 1960s before settling in Cuba for a while. Aire Norteño and Cancion del Yucatan also draw on South American roots, while a trio of Preludios Nostalgicos is part of the repertoire of many modern guitarists. Anido was a significant figure in the 20th century guitar landscape, and Cinzia Milani has dedicated a devoted tribute to her art.

Maria Luisa Anido (1907-1996) was born in Morón in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. She studied guitar with Domingo Prat in Argentina and Miguel Llobet in Spain. From 1925, she often performed together with Llobet in Argentina. She made her first appearance in London in 1952 at the Wigmore Hall, and in the 1960s she spent several years performing and teaching in Russia. She later became a professor at the Buenos Aires Conservatory. In the mid-1980s, she moved to Spain, where she spent the rest of her life.

María Luisa Anido was one of the few female composers and performers of her time. Her works for guitar, exquisite miniatures, are inspired by the rich folklore and music of her native Argentina.

Played with winning affection by Cinzia Milani, one of the most important guitarists of the present day, who has already published a tribute to Ida Presti and Teresa De Rogatis, released by Brilliant Classics.