“I can only applaud the efforts of Smaro Gregoriadou and her quest to reshape the way we look at, and listen to the guitar." – Brian Wigman, Classical Net

The above quote is typical of critical response, not only to Greek guitar virtuoso and composer Smaro Gregoriadou’s amazing playing, but to her unique (and pioneering) applied research into different instrument designs, tunings and performance techniques – both historic and modern. Her previous two albums for Delos – Reinventing Guitar, volumes 1 and 2 – won plaudits from reviewers the world over, and expanded performing and stylistic horizons for guitarists everywhere.

While her two previous Delos releases concentrate largely on Baroque-era music, this one sticks to music of particular appeal from the past century, as well as forays into the new millennium – using a number of different guitars that she has helped to develop. While this release’s pieces are mostly for solo guitar, the program includes Smaro’s own arresting composition, El Aleph, for guitar ensemble – played here by the German group, Open Source Guitars. Other composers honored are Fernande Peyrot, Agustin Barrios, Manuel Ponce, Hans Werner Henze, Sean Hickey, René Eespere and Štěpán Rak.