Classical guitarist Pl\u00ednio Fernandes has long been attracted by the aura of London\u2014some 5,800 miles away from his native S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil. His desire to move to the Brit capital for college music studies ultimately led him to launch an international touring and recording career there. He signed a multi-album contract with the prestigious Decca Gold label in 2021, at just 27 years old, and in 2023 joined the roster of Askonas Holt, one of the classical world\u2019s premier artist management firms. With the recently inked deal, Fernandes joins the company of historic guitar giants Andr\u00e9s Segovia, Julian Bream, and John Williams, and some of the world\u2019s most revered classical conductors, instrumentalists, and vocalists that Askonas Holt has represented. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Bacheando<\/a>, <\/em>his sophomore album for Decca, Fernandes continues defining his musical voice. As on Saudade<\/a>,<\/em> his 2022 debut recording, Bacheando<\/em> draws a line between the traditional and popular Brazilian sounds Fernandes grew up with and music by J.S. Bach (one of Fernandes\u2019 favorite composers), whose influence resonates with Brazilian composers across the stylistic spectrum. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The new recording incudes the widely played benchmark of the guitar canon, Bach\u2019s Prelude, Fugue, and Allegro, and Bach\u2019s Adagio from Concerto in D Minor BWV 974. The latter appears in a masterful transcription by Latin Grammy\u2013winning composer\/arranger\/guitarist S\u00e9rgio Assad, a fellow S\u00e3o Paulo native who also contributed to Saudade<\/em>. Assad arranged five tracks for Bacheando <\/em>and composed Preludio, Fuga, e Vivace<\/em>, a nod toward Bach that featured Assad\u2019s first foray into fugue writing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n