Here, there & everywhere

Göran Söllscher is a Swedish classical guitarist. Specialized in baroque repertoire he used to play a Beatles tune as an encore for his concerts. One day a Japanese producer asked him if he wanted to do a whole record with Beatles tunes. He took 5 years until he realized in 1995 'Here, there & everywhere' a collection with 17 Beatles tunes for  classical solo guitar (6 string & 11 string) Now normally I don't like 'X' plays the famous tunes of 'Y'. But this is really an exceptional record. Söllscher took the time to choose the tunes and asked other musicians to write arrangements for classical guitar, among them one of my favourite Japonese composers Toru Takemitsu. Söllscher strips the tunes down to the essential melody and the arrangements by himself and others are brillant, ranging from baroque, Jazz to contemporary, the overall athmosphere is contemplative. Among the highlights are  'Michelle' with an arrangement by Takemitsu which I prefer even to the original, which I always found to 'Kitsch', 'Yellow Submarine', or how to play an orchestral arrangement on solo guitar and 'Across the universe' with an epic approach. If you want to discover Beatles  Tunes under another angle go for it.