Reviewed Friday 18th July 2014
This concert consisted of works for string quartet with guitar, in this case the Australian String Quartet with Pepe Romero, Slava Grigoryan, and the Maximo Pujol Trio but, first, the special guests, the Aurora Guitar Ensemble, appeared in the first half. The twenty seven musicians, aged from 17 to 27, came down from Queensland with their Musical Director, Dr. Paul Svoboda, especially for this event. Svoboda composed or arranged all of the works played, as well as conducted the ensemble in his own enthusiastic, even flamboyant fashion, which endeared him instantly to the audience.
The three pieces were
Alegria, Echoes of Rain Shadows, with soloists Kyri Pearce and Ian Desouza,
Celtic Clash, with soloists Heather Kirkup and Helen Svoboda on electric bass guitar, and
The Green Glens of Gweedor, with soloists Libby Myers, Fiona Maher and Marlee Van Der Zant.
Their first Adelaide appearance was a very pleasant surprise indeed for the audience, and return visits by this group are definitely in order. They brought with them not just talent, but lots of youthful enthusiasm, flair, and a great sense of fun.
They began with their theme song,
Aurora, which rolled along then, suddenly reached a brief lull, before sweeping on again to the end. Lyrical and evocative, it was a great start to their concert.
Alegria, Echoes of Rain Shadows, began with a rhythm on a single that sounded a little like Morse code, incorporated percussion with the players tapping and slapping various points on their guitars, and added the sound of a triangle and conga drum, both played by Svoboda as he continued to conduct the work..
Celtic Clash, was an Irish single jig that conjures up the feel of an Irish music session in a pub, the musicians sitting in a circle near the fire, their drinks on the table in the centre, lost in their music. the ensemble really seemed to enjoy this piece, with lots of smiles on view. Staying in Ireland,
The Green Glens of Gweedore (Gleanntáin Ghlas' Ghaoth Dobhair), is an instrumental version of a song, or air, in the Irish language, Gaeilge (not Gaelic, that is the Scottish language), written by
Proinsias Ó Maonaigh about his hometown of
Gaoth Dobhair (pronounced Gweedore) in
County Donegal (Contae Dhún na nGall). It tells of a man leaving Donegal for America to escape the harsh English rule of the time, a common theme in Irish songs. This beautiful air, which closed the programme, featured a percussive section which cleverly imitated the sounds of hard shoe dancers very effectively.
This performance left everybody talking about the skill of the performers and the inventiveness of the orchestrations, and expressing a wish to see them again soon.
The second half focussed on the Australian String Quartet, the members of which play on a matched set of wonderful
Guadagnini instruments on loan to them through the generosity of Ulrike Klein, Maria Myers and a group of donors who have supported Ngeringa Arts to acquire the viola
. Kristian Winther plays a 1784 violin from Turin, Ioana Tache plays a 1748-49 violin from Piacenza, Stephen King plays a 1783 viola from Turin, and Sharon Draper plays a 1743 violoncello from Piacenza, 'Ngeringa''.
There was an order change in the second half with Artistic Director, Slava Grigoryan, first on the bill, playing
The Garden of Forking Paths, written for him by his good friend Shaun Rigney, commissioned by Julian Burnside QC, and inspired by a short story by Argentine poet, Jorge Luis Borges. It represents a garden where every fork leads to a different type of landscape, with the theme of the person walking through the garden running throughout. This is a very ethereal piece suggesting that the garden is not of this earth, There are short intense burst, pauses, slow, flowing patterns and more, challenging both the quartet and the soloist, the playing even sounding at times Oriental, like a koto or qin. It takes people of the calibre of Grigoryan and the ASQ to bring the composer's vision to fruition in such a work, not only for their enormous technique, but their musical maturity and understanding. This was a remarkable performance.
Next was the wonderful Spanish classical guitarist, Pepe Romero, playing Luigi Boccherini's
Quintetto No. 4 in D Major, G448, "Fandango", the four movements being arrangements of movements from two earlier works. The first three movements are in D Major, with the last in D minor, and we are on far more familiar territory structurally and harmonically with this piece. The strings are muted in the first movement, giving a lighter feel to the opening melody, suiting the pastoral idea. The second movement makes use of the cello, and has some marked dynamic differences, outbursts of exuberance. The last two movements are played as one, effectively forming a slow, serious introduction leading into the dance, which adds extra colour by having the cellist play castanets, a task at which
Sharon Draper is very accomplished. Romero embraced the inner core of the work beautifully and formed a strong bond with the quartet, together showing why Boccherini is a much loved composer and why Romero is such a highly respected Spanis classical guitarist.
Lastly came the Máximo Pujol Trio playing one of his own compositions, a suite for strings, guitar and bandoneon,
Luminosa de Buenos Aires. Eleonora Ferreyra on the bandoneón and Daniel Falasca on the double bass are the other members of his trio, adding to that authentic sound. Everything that you might expect or could wish for in a work based on the tango was here, the fire, the sensuality, the strong emotional content. All of this is second nature to the trio, of course, but the quartet also find all on the nuances, the subtle timing changes, the beauty, the various moods and the rhythmic pulse of this marvellous music. Pujol's brilliant writing, and even more brilliant playing, brought Brazil to Adelaide.
The Gala was certainly a highlight of the Festival, with three such esteemed guitarists from different genres, Australia's favourite and sensational string quartet, and a superb young ensemble, all on the same bill.
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