Guitars
Perform En Masse on Sunday
By
Kathy McCardwell
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!”
|