Interpretations
The concerto was recorded for the first time in either 1947 or 1948 by guitarist Regino Sainz de la Maza with the Orquesta Nacional de España, conducted by Ataulfo Argenta, on 78rpm records. Narciso Yepes then made two early recordings of the Aranjuez, both also with Argenta - one in mono with the Madrid Chamber Orchestra (released between 1953 and 1955), and the second in stereo with the Orquesta Nacional de España (recorded in 1957 and released in 1959). Although Ida Presti gave the French premiere of the Concierto de Aranjuez in 1948, the first female guitarist to record the concerto was Renata Tarragó (1958 or 1959) - who played with fingertips rather than fingernails - accompanied by the Orquesta de Conciertos de Madrid, conducted by Odón Alonso. William Yeoman provides an interesting discographical survey of recordings of the concerto in Gramophone magazine.
At the request of Nicanor Zabaleta, Rodrigo himself transcribed the Concierto for harp and orchestra in 1974.
A number of musicians have since reinterpreted the work, usually the second movement, perhaps most famously jazz legend Miles Davis in the company of arranger Gil Evans. On the album Sketches of Spain (1960), Davis says: "That melody is so strong that the softer you play it, the stronger it gets, and the stronger you play it, the weaker it gets." Violinist Ikuko Kawai's version, "Aranjuez", is an upbeat, faster update to the work. Clarinettist Jean-Christian Michel's transcription of "Aranjuez" has sold some 1,500,000 copies. Guitarist Buckethead covered "Sketches of Spain" on his album Electric Tears as a tribute to Miles Davis. Bassist Buster Williams performs a solo bass transcription of the second movement of Concierto de Aranjuez on his album Griot Liberté (2006).
Until asked to perform and interpret Concierto de Aranjuez in 1991, the Spanish flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucía was not proficient at reading musical notation. De Lucía claimed in Paco de Lucía-Light and Shade: A Portrait that he gave greater emphasis to rhythmical accuracy in his interpretation of the Concierto at the expense of the perfect tone preferred by classical guitarists. Joaquín Rodrigo later declared that no one had ever played his composition in such a brilliant manner.
The legendary jazz pianist Chick Corea used the beginning of the second movement as an introduction to his hit composition Spain. Al Jarreau used the same intro in his arrangement of Spain as a vocalese.
A major performance of the Concierto, which stands strongly with Miles Davis's Sketches rendition, is that by Jim Hall on his 1975 album, Concierto (also featuring Chet Baker, Paul Desmond, Ron Carter, Steve Gadd, and Roland Hanna). Hall's strong lyricism and outstanding sense of tone particularly giving the piece (performed in full and running to over 19 minutes) an understated power. The Concierto is, in many ways, the centrepiece of the album, which is often regarded as Jim Hall's peak.
The piece also featured in the film Brassed Off, with Ewan McGregor, and was played by the Grimethorpe Colliery Band. In that film, it is sometimes referred to as the 'Concierto d'Orangejuice.' This is a familiar name in the brass band community (although it is often shortened to 'Orange Juice'); the arrangement they refer to was created by Kevin Bolton.
The Modern Jazz Quartet has several recordings of the Concierto, one with Laurindo Almeida, another on the Last Concert CD and In Memoriam CD. Jim Roberts of Orlando FL, has two recordings, one with his trio and another with his Saxtet, both very listenable arrangements.
A version entitled "Rodrigo's Guitar Concerto de Aranjuez (Theme from 2nd movement)" was released by The Shadows in 1979.
A version of the Adagio was released as a single entitled "Rodrigo's Guitar Concerto" by Geoff Love, (under the name of Manuel & the Music of the Mountains) in 1976. This reached No. 3 in the British singles chart.
Lebanese female singer Fairuz has also used the music of the second movement on one of her songs "Le Bairut" (To Beirut). Also the Egyptian born Greek singer Demis Roussos used the same music for his song "Follow Me". In 1967, the French singer Richard Anthony brought out a single named "Aranjuez Mon Amour", with lyrics by Guy Bontempelli.
The Israeli singer Rita also sang a song on her second album that contained the melody of the second movement. The song was titled "Concierto de Aranjuez" or "The Rainbow Song" (Shir Hakeshet), and appeared on her 1988 album Yamey Ha-Tom.
Led Zeppelin's keyboardist/bassist John Paul Jones incorporated parts of the music during an improvisation section of their song "No Quarter" on their 1977 tour.
Electronic musician and composer Isao Tomita performed a version on his 1978 album "Kosmos" (Space Fantasy)
André Rieu performed the piece accompanied by the church bells of Maastricht in a performance available on the DVD Songs From My Heart.
Egyptian-Italian singer Dalida had a song entitled "Aranjuez La Tua Voce" which employed parts of the melody from the second movement.
This song was also used a lot of times in Digimon through the first season.
Singer Summer Watson included a version called "Aranjuez, ma pensée" on her self-titled 2002 debut album Summer.
Japanese Jazz-Fusion drummer Akira Jimbo (better known as a former drummer for groups such as Casiopea and Jimsaku, recorded an arrangement of this tune on the album "Jimbo de Cover", which, as implied, is an album containing only his covers of other people's songs.
UK Virtuoso guitarist Chris Adams released a modern version of the second movement on his album called "Intimacy" and titled the track " From Spain With Love". http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0077R5UPY/ref=dm_dp_trk3?ie=UTF8&qid=1328959818&sr=301-1
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