Bream plays guitar the only way it should be played, that is, ecstatically....a tonal and technical master of his instrument.

Julian Bream is the Godfather of classical guitarists, especially when it comes to Spanish Guitar pieces. I fall asleep to Vol. 2 of the Ultimate Guitar Collection every night and decided that I needed Vol. 1 as well. I was not disappointed. Yeah, the sound quality sounds "old" on a few of the pieces because they are. But so what? If anything, I kind of feel like I am being transported back in time when the composers wrote these pieces. :) I would not let a few less-than-modern-studio sounding pieces deter you from enjoying Bream's artistry.

Bream is a wonderful player, combining technical mastery with romantic sensibility and emotional immediacy. I wish the recording quality was more even. Some pieces, like The Suite Espanola, are just recorded badly - no other way to describe it - and the difference between these and those recorded well makes an unterrupted listen very jarring.