PETER XIFARAS
Appassionato
(p) (c) 1999 Sambuca Records
12tks/47mins

This music touches you from the very first accords of Peter Xifaras' guitar. He starts his story, and you're already involved into this exciting narration, and you hunger to know what else the musician is going to tell you. Communication with his music is very comfort. Melodies of Peter Xifaras are light, he doesn't suppress you, he doesn't try to prove his superiority. He simply tells you something about him, and you get into his world, and you want to stay in that world as long as you can. That's as if a door opens in front of you, and you enter a home, and you can see history of a human's life with all its joys and experiences.

You see two lovers making their farewells, they're parting for a long, maybe forever... The last hangings and passional kisses, light tears and the wrench of saying good-bye (composition "Dreamscapes")... And then you see the fellow somewhere on his way, in a train, among boundless cornfields, longing for his beloved. His way is long, and sometimes he fishes out his pocket photo of the beloved and steals a look there with fondness, turning away an unsought tear ("The Journey")...

"Resting Place" - it's time for action, not yet for rest, activity and disquiet. "Dialog" - meeting an old friend, talking about native land, a message from home.

"Restless Spirit" - a soul yearning for coming home, dreaming to meet his family, his beloved, sick in heart for him, the children scampering at the drawing-room with glad cry. His spirit is there, with them, and there's no distance already between them, and they are together again...

My story is by no mean occasional, because music of Peter Xifaras is very picturesque, dramaturgic, it's like an interesting film's soundtrack.

The album consists of 3 parts. It is opened by "Appassionato Suite", consisting of six mentioned compositions. They are the parts of a big piece, which Peter is going to record later. And I would like very much to listen it completely! Then two short sketches for guitar follow. And the album is concluded by four different interpretations of a famous English folk song -homeland (traditional), espanol (spanish), melancholia (sad), and aeolian (modal). And in every melody the guitar of Peter Xifaras is beyond compare exquisite and expressive. And his music is always intelligent and deep.

"Appassionato Suite" is a beautiful album, which will leave nobody cold. One wants to listen it again and again, because the musician's soul is there, exciting and beautiful world of Peter Xifaras is there...

Serge Kozlovsky