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Top 3

by Dima
(Seattle WA, USA)

I think John Williams is just best of the best of the best. Most importantly, he plays with perfect rythm, without overuse of artistic ritenutos and accelerandos, and without overuse of arpeggio - although he can do it when needed, his articulation is still great.

His tones are all clean, all exactly the right length, and the volume forms perfect line of voice. He never plays faster than he can while holding his extremely sound high quality bar. In fact, he plays most pieces slower than other top guitarists, but precision, rythm and beautiful sound are just charming. He plays in great dynamic range and play basses very clearly.

Also, he rarely plays double sounds with arpeggio (like pulling bass slightly earlier than other notes). Segovia does that all the time, and I think it's a minus to Segovia.

Second best is Nicholas Goluses, for his unmatched performance of Bach's violin sonatas.

Third... I haven't thought about third, just until recently, when I've heard Jorge Caballero's performance of Dvorak Symphony #9, 1st movement. Amazing speed technique along with beautiful and powerful expression, and great range in volume (Compare to Ana Vidovic: she's great at speed, but lacks expression, and her play sounds somewhat too mechanical).

(I'll add a note that today is 2010-09-01, to make my life easier in case if my opinion changes in the future :))