Sunday, Nov. 10 was a dark and stormy night, but inside Kulas Recital Hall the Oberlin Guitar Ensemble, directed by Professor of Classical Guitar Stephen Aron, created a sunny musical atmosphere highly flavored by Spanish-styled music. This concert was the first of a three-part series of classical guitar concerts, the next two of which will take place this Sun., Nov. 17.
The five works on last Sunday’s concert represented a wide variety of composers and styles, from Ravi Shankar to Soulima Stravinsky to Jacque Ibert. All of the pieces were either for two guitars or guitar-flute duet.
The first piece was Ravi Shankar’s “L’aube Enchantée: sur la Raga “Todi” (The Enchanted Dawn: in the Raga “Todi”) for flute and guitar, performed by flutist Sarah Sclamberg and guitarist Justin Riberio. “[L’aube Enchantée: sur la Raga “Todi”] is really a tour-de-force for the flute,” said Riberio. Indeed, the flutist did have a more soloistic line for much of the piece. Sclamberg’s expressive phrasing in the more melodic passages was enjoyable; the faster passages were a touch insecure at parts, although the flourishes at the end of a presto section were absolutely solid and very flashy. Riberio accompanied quite well and made appropriate transitions from a soloistic style to a more subdued accompanying style.
Second on the concert was Frederick Noad’s arrangement of Enrique Granados’s “La Maja De Goya” (Tonadilla) (The Maiden of Goya), for two guitars, performed by Brendan Evans and Paul Hunton. Their ensemble was excellent, even through tempo changes and rubato sections. Further, their musical interpretation illuminated all the subtle nuances of tone color, evoking images of Spain and making the piece really come to life for the audience.
The next piece, an arrangement Soulima Stravinsky’s “Sonatina No. 1” for piano, performed by guitarists Mischka Gerken and Justin Riberio, was a bit mixed. The ensemble in the first movement felt a little rough, but the second movement was both technically secure and beautifully expressive. The third movement Vivace also locked in very nicely and showed some real contrast in dynamic levels. “We were able to infuse the piece with a lot of color, even with the time constraints. The pieces were a lot of fun, and allowed us to put some of our own personality into them,” Riberio said.
The last two pieces on the concert, “Corcovado” by Darius Milhaud and an Entr’acte by Jacque Ibert, were performed by flutist Hyun-Joo Ro and guitarist Teresa Calpotura. Ro’s tone was particularly lovely, and Calpotura accompanied the solo flute lines with great tact, being present but not overbearing. Their performance was quite professional, with excellent ensemble and stage presence.
“I was very proud of the students' performances. They absorbed the musical ideas very quickly and communicated the gestures with much more confidence than they betrayed immediately before,” Aron said.
Oberlin Guitar Ensemble, constituted primarily of classical guitar performance majors, was originally formed to give classical guitar students an opportunity to perform in an ensemble setting, rather than focusing only on solo works.
“To me, the ensemble experience is absolutely critical to a guitarist's development. As we function outside the major ensembles…of orchestra, band, opera and choir, this experience gets the students acquainted with the many musical and performance-related intangibles associated with each others’ instruments, as well as drawing them into the Conservatory community in general in a way not otherwise possible,” Aron said.
On Sunday the Oberlin Guitar Ensemble will offer the second installment in their concert series at 3 p.m. in Kulas Recital Hall. Works to be performed include selections from Brouwer, Bozza, Fauré, Seiber, Johnson, and de Falla. Immediately following will be a guest performance by Oberlin alumnus Matthew Hinsley, a singer and classical guitarist. Hinsley will perform a concert of self-accompanied high-art songs in the style popular roughly 300 years ago; Oberlin Guitar Ensemble director Stephen Aron describes Hinsley as “self-contained chamber music.”
As Ribero said, “If you like classical guitar, this is your year!”