I have been a fan of Milan Tesar's music ever since I first heard two of his compositions performed by Vladimír Mikulka (European Guitar Premières, Supraphon 11 1418-2). Baladické Príbehy: Guitar Compositions of Milan Tesar is devoted entirely to Tesar's works and is a disc that I awaited eagerly. Happily, Zelenka does not disappoint. The recording begins with the beautiful Four Ballads for Solo Guitar. The first ballad has a feeling similar to York's Sunburst, while the third has elements that harken back to Brouwer's tonal style. Each ballad is given a sensitive and delicate reading by Zelenka.

    Tesar's compositional style for the guitar is tonal and based around short forms-three, four and five movement works in which individual movements range from one to two minutes in length. Within the relatively narrow compositional boundaries Tesar has set for himself, he manages for the most part to produce distinctive works that combine elements of classical, jazz and popular music. However, he sometimes comes close to a certain sameness. I found this to be the case when listening to Four Compositions and Five Capriccios, which immediately follow Four Ballads on the disc. Nonetheless, when each is taken on its own merit, all of them as well as Zelenka's performances themselves are very engaging. The final movement of Four Compositions, entitled Dancing Tune, bears a strong resemblance to Duarte's English Suite, while the final section of Five Capriccios is in the same spirit as Brouwer's Estudios Sencillos No. 20.

    A special treat is A Composition for Two Guitars, on which the composer plays the second guitar part. Czech Divertimento contains a lovely third movement, Meditation, which has a haunting minor key melody and some interesting changes in tonal color. Small Suite in E major is perhaps the most traditional of the pieces on this recording. I particularly like the rhythmic bounce that Zelenka gives to its Allegro section. The final piece is entitled Intermezzo, Aria and Finale. It is arranged for solo guitar, harpsichord and string quartet. On Mikulka's recording, this piece is listed as Three Pieces for Two Guitars (both played by Mikulka) and the movements are noted as Intermezzo, Aria and Merry-go-round. The third piece lives up to this name, as a rapid arpeggiated accompaniment combines with short repeated melody motives to produce a dizzying effect. Although both Zelenka's and Mikulka's arrangements work, my personal preference is Mikulka's because in this instance I favor a more homogeneous sound.

    Tesar's music is extremely accessible to the general audience without compromising musical standards. This recording would serve as an excellent vehicle to introduce someone to the world of classical guitar. I found the liner notes to be quite interesting in that they focused on the current and historical trends in Czechoslovakia as they relate to the classical guitar. Suprophon has also released two other recordings of Tesar's guitar music (Album of Compositions for Solo Guitar Vol. 1 and Vol. 2).