Craig Ogden
Guitarist Craig Ogden, based for some years at Britain's Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, has drawn comparisons to the legendary Julian Bream with the flair and what an American Record Guide critic called the daredevil quality of his playing. The catholic nature of Ogden's repertory is also noteworthy; he presents guitar chestnuts and contemporary premieres with equal enthusiasm, and he has worked as an accompanist to quite diverse vocalists.
A native of Perth, Australia, born in 1967, Ogden took up the guitar at age seven and also studied percussion as a teen. After graduating with honors from the University of Western Australia, he moved on in 1990 for a performance degree at the Royal Northern College of Music and was hired as a lecturer in guitar by the RNCM, becoming the youngest instrumentalist ever to receive one of the school's fellowships. In concert and on recordings, Ogden has managed to win acclaim even for performances in the most crowded field of all: the guitar concertos of composer Joaquín Rodrigo. Making his Royal Albert Hall debut with Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez and recording all three concertos with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Ogden gained not only strong notices but also praise from Rodrigo's daughter Cecilia. More innovative Ogden programs were likewise successful; he gave the British premieres of guitar concertos by American composers John Corigliano and Aaron Jay Kernis (and has commissioned several concertos from British composers). A disc combining passages from the novels of British writer Louis de Bernières with the music they describe made Top 10 on British classical sales charts.
The roster of labels for which Ogden has recorded is unusually prestigious, including Virgin/EMI, Chandos, Hyperion, and Sony. Ogden has collaborated with artists, including countertenor David Daniels to release the album A Quiet Thing, joining together for a series of duo recitals that introduced him to U.S. audiences. Another collaborator has been soprano Claire Bradshaw, to whom he is married. By 2018, Ogden, backed by the marketing muscle of Britain's Classic FM crossover music radio network, had notched four number-one albums on U.K. classical charts, including 2015's Craig Ogden and Friends: The Perfect Summer Guitar Album. In 2019, he was heard on the Chandos chamber album Voyage Central Park. Ogden appeared in 2021 with violinist David Juritz and cellist Timothy Hugh on a Nimbus Alliance recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, and later that year, he released the album Craig Ogden in Concert. In 2022, he appeared on a Signum Classics recording of concertos by Christopher Gunning, and in 2023 as accompanist to singer Elgan Llyr Thomas on the album Unveiled. Ogden is the author of a set of right-hand exercises for guitarists, and he has increasingly often commissioned new works for the guitar. He is on the faculty at the University of Western Australia.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Unveiled: Britten | Tippett | Gipps | Browne | Thomas
Elgan Llŷr Thomas, Craig Ogden, Iain Burnside
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Delphian Records on 23 Jun 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Craig Ogden: Guitar Meditations
Chamber Music - Released by Chandos on 1 Jun 1999
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Craig Ogden in Concert
Chamber Music - Released by Chandos on 1 May 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Berkeley, Lennox & Michael: Guitar Works
Chamber Music - Released by Chandos on 1 Oct 2004
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
LPO plays the 20th Century Favourites
Craig Ogden, David Parry, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Warner Music Group - X5 Music Group on 28 Dec 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations arranged for Violin, Guitar & Cello
David Juritz, Craig Ogden, Tim Hugh
Chamber Music - Released by Nimbus Alliance on 2 Apr 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Anon in Love / Facade Settings / A Song for the Lord (English Song, Vol. 1)
Graham Johnson, Martyn Hill, Felicity Lott, Craig Ogden
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Naxos on 19 Nov 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez, Fantasia para un gentilhombre & Concierto para una fiesta
Craig Ogden, Sachio Fujioka, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Concertos - Released by Chandos on 1 Mar 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: XIII. Variation 13 (arr. David Juritz)
David Juritz, Craig Ogden, Tim Hugh
Chamber Music - Released by Nimbus Alliance on 25 Jun 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: XXV. Variation 25 (arr. David Juritz)
David Juritz, Craig Ogden, Tim Hugh
Chamber Music - Released by Nimbus Alliance on 11 Jun 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Tippett: The Blue Guitar - Britten: Nocturne, After Dowland - Bennett: Five Impromptus - Walton: Five Bagatelles - Berkeley: Sonatina
Classical - Released by 1995 Wyastone Estate Limited on 1 Jan 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A Quiet Thing
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 5 Aug 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Summer Guitar
Classical - Released by Decca (UMO) on 1 Jan 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Captain Corelli's Mandolin
Chamber Music - Released by Chandos on 1 Oct 1999
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Craig Ogden And Friends
Classical - Released by Decca (UMO) (Classics) on 1 Jan 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bizet - Ravel - Debussy - Fauré - Ibert: Carmen Fantasy for Flute & Piano
Chamber Music - Released by VDE-GALLO on 16 Feb 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Concertos anglais pour guitare
Craig Ogden, Northern Sinfonia, Richard Hickox
Concertos - Released by Chandos on 1 Nov 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Christmas Time
Classical - Released by Decca (UMO) on 1 Jan 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Christmas Time (3 New Carols For 2014)
Classical - Released by Decca (UMO) on 1 Jan 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Paul Coles: Guitar Music
Classical - Released by Nimbus Records on 1 Sep 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo