Carlo Fierens’s Napoléon Coste: Complete Guitar Works, Vol. 7 — Pièces de Concert II has received five stars in the October 2026 issue of Musica. Writing on page 88, Roberto Brusotti praises a performance that brings the expressive range of Coste’s concert music into focus: its harmonic richness, theatrical imagination and capacity for intimacy.

Five stars for a continuing exploration of Coste

Brusotti places this seventh volume within the recording cycle Fierens began with Da Vinci Classics in 2020. The review presents Coste as a composer whose individuality emerges through the breadth of his writing: intricate harmony, a distinctly French clarity of instrumental colour and an expressive language that extends beyond virtuoso display.

The Grande Sérénade, Op. 30, receives particular attention. Brusotti traces its theatrical character and its echoes of Berlioz, from the pilgrims’ march to the contrasting Bolero. These observations illuminate a programme in which the guitar can suggest a much wider musical world without losing the intimacy of its own voice.

Clarity, colour and expressive freedom

At the heart of the review is Fierens’s ability to reveal this variety through sound and phrasing. Brusotti singles out the instrument’s eccezionale dolcezza and a fraseggio fluido e flessibile, qualities that allow the music’s lyrical character to emerge with naturalness.

“capace di restituire con grazia autentica l’intimismo così tipico del compositore”

Roberto Brusotti · Musica, No. 380, October 2026, p. 88

The concluding assessment also draws attention to the recording’s vitality and personality, pointing to the Fantasia Sinfonica, Op. 28b, as a particularly telling example. The five-star rating recognises both the musical discoveries offered by the programme and the interpretative care with which Fierens brings them to life.

Read the full review in Musica

These selected excerpts offer a glimpse of Brusotti’s discussion. For the complete review, including his account of the works and their musical context, we invite readers to consult Musica, No. 380, October 2026, page 88.

Find the October issue on the publisher’s website ↗