Guitar Weekend Reviews

2011 Classical Guitar Weekend Review:

From clevelandclassical.com:

Classical Guitar Weekend: Four Concerts (May 20-22, 2011)
by Daniel Hathaway & Mike Telin

The eleventh annual Classical Guitar Weekend, sponsored by Armin Kelly's Guitars International, brought five internationally recognized artists, guests, and a master luthier to the Cleveland Institute of Music from Friday, May 20 through Sunday, May 22. The featured artists gave individual recitals and master classes, and Geza Burghardt gave a lecture about the traditional Spanish Method of Guitar Construction. The weekend was educational - and entertaining - for the guitar professional and the guitar curious alike.

The well-attended recitals were held in Mixon Hall - a perfect venue for hearing classical guitar - and the repertory was well documented in extensive program notes written by five esteemed annotators: Sérgio Assad, Colin Davin, Erik Mann, Tom Poore and Asgerdur Sigurdardottir. We attended all four recitals and caught one of the masterclasses.

Irina Kulikova (Daniel Hathaway)

Russian guitarist Irina Kulikova's opening recital on Friday evening began with somewhat tentative performances of works by J.S. Bach, Fernando Sor and Johann Kaspar Mertz - as though Ms. Kulikova was still adjusting to the hall, but she rebounded after intermission with colorful and assured readings of three engaging works by Augustín Barrios Mangoré, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco and José Maria Gallardo del Rey.

The recital was organized in strictly chronological order, beginning with a reworking of J.S. Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 in G which showed Ms. Kulikova to be an elegant player with a fine sense of rhythm and ornamentation but who might have taken a longer view of phrases - some notes in the melodic lines tended to disappear. Sor's Fantasia, op. 30 and Mertz's Fantasie Hongroise also needed more melodic shape, but the Mertz ended with a remarkable arpeggio that seized my attention.

After a long intermission, Ms. Kulikova seemed re-energized, giving us an agile performance of Mangoré's sentimental Vals, op. 8, no. 4 and a characterful version of Castelnuovo-Tedesco's Sonata (Omaggio a Boccherini). Its charmingly neo-classical opening Allegro was followed by an Andantino featuring surprising changes of texture, a Minuet completely evocative of Spain and a toccata-like finale.

Before her final piece, Gallardo del Rey's California Suite, Ms. Kulikova spoke to the audience, noting that she had had a long plane trip and earlier had been completely concentrating on the music. She told the touching story of how the composer of the last work had given the young artist her first good guitar when he met her as a 12-year old in Russia and thus had made her career possible. The California Suite was a charming take on the baroque suite with a perpetual motion Prelude, a gorgeous Allemande, a brooding Sarabande and, rather than a gigue, a concluding waltz. She responded to warm applause with a curious little atmospheric piece (an Etude?) which nobody around us could identify.

Beijing Guitar Duo (Mike Telin)

The Beijing Guitar Duo's recital on Saturday afternoon was a musically stunning lesson in ensemble playing. Like concentric circles, Meng Su and Yameng Wang performed from a common center: articulations, tonal colors, crescendos, decrescendos, whether jointly or individually, were perfectly matched, and their intonation was impeccable.

Their performance from memory of J.S. Bach's Chaconne from the solo violin Partita in d minor, BWV 1004, arranged for two guitars by Ulrich Stacke from the Busoni piano transcription was intimate and brilliantly paced. In Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco's Sontina Canonica, Op. 196, the Duo brought out the interesting counterpoint beautifully. Sergio Assad's Maracaip, composed for and dedicated to the Beijing Guitar Duo, is written in two parts, Wistful Rider, based on a five-note motive, and Crab Walk, which depicts a crab walking on the beach based on a dance which has its origins in the northeast region of Brazil. Comprised of four dance movements, Radames Gnattali's Suite Retratos, originally written for mandolin, choro group and string orchestra, brought a beautiful recital to an elegant conclusion.

The middle portion of the afternoon allowed Meng Su and Yameng Wang to demonstrate their musical individuality. Ending the first half, Ms. Su's captivating performance of Sergio Assad's Aquarelle brought out the underlying Samba rhythms in magical fashion and Ms. Wang began the second half with Carlo Domeniconi's The Bridge of the Birds, which she performed with aplomb.

At the beginning stages of their professional careers, the Beijing Guitar Duo certainly has a very bright future ahead of them.

Zoran Dukic (Daniel Hathaway)

Croatian guitarist Zoran Dukic made a passionate splash at the beginning of his Saturday evening recital when he brought his big, singing tone and sense of color to Antonio José's Sonata, a four movement work with an arresting Pavana triste and toccata-like finale which ended in an impressive jangle of chords. In Miguel Llobet's four Catalan Folksongs, Mr. Dukic explored a wide range of dynamics and moods, and showed his mastery of the Spanish style in an eloquent performance of Manuel Ponce's Sonatina Meridional.

In the second half, Mr. Dukic took us into both familiar and uncharted territory with pieces by Atanas Ourkouzounov, Agustín Barrios Mangoré, Astor Piazzolla and Dusan Bogdanovic. Ourkouounov's Sonata No. 1 brought guitar percussion into play, while three pieces by Mangoré paid homage to Bach (the Preludio), folklorica (the Caazapá) and the art song (Choro de Saudade). Piazzolla's Invierno Porteño was characteristically dark and moody, his Adios Nonino flashy. Bogdanovic's Six Balkan Miniatures took Mr. Dukic into the tortured ethnic history of his home region - each piece was written to depict a province in war-torn Yugoslavia and Mr. Dukic brought out their individual characters with deep understanding and flair. Called back for an encore, he noted that perhaps there had been enough "heavy Balkan music," and gave the enthusiastic audience a dreamy, lutelike performance of the third movement of Bach's first violin sonata, structured as a long crescendo and decrescendo. Brilliant.

Jason Vieaux with Yolanda Kondonassis and Joan Kwuon (Mike Telin)

The concluding recital of the weekend was played by master musician Jason Vieaux, who was joined by two Cleveland Institute of Music colleagues, harpist Yolanda Kondonassis and violinist Joan Kwuon. Mr. Vieaux began the afternoon with Bach's Lute Suite in e, BWV 996. As we have come to expect from his performances, he interpreted the prelude and the succeeding dance movements exquisitely, allowing Bach's inner lines and harmonic progressions to sing out in all their eloquence. Ms. Kondonassis proved to be a first-class collaborator in Alan Hovhaness Spirit of Trees: Sonata for Harp and Guitar. The composer's repetitive style, learned from Oriental models, could in the hands of lesser artists become monotonous, but this performance put you into a trance you hoped would not end.

Following intermission, Mr. Vieaux played the world premiere of Dan Visconti's Devil's Strum, a bluesy and literally foot-stomping piece written for the performer, which utilizes extended techniques and like its dedicatee is full of musical personality. Mr. Vieaux captivated the packed house with his dramatic performance of the new work.

The concert concluded with Astor Piazzolla's Histoire du Tango, which traces the traditional music of Buenos Aires from its origins in the Bordello to the present day (or at least Piazzolla's day). Violinist Joan Kwuon made easy work of some difficult passages and captured the elusive Argentine spirit. Mr. Vieaux rewarded the audience's enthusiastic ovation with yet another expertly played tango.

A year after first hearing him, I continue to be impressed with Jason Vieauxs powers of communicating with an audience without saying a word. It's a quality that is inborn and can't be learned.

Published on clevelandclassical.com May 24, 2011

2010 Classical Guitar Weekend Reviews:

A Musical Journey: Classical Guitar Weekend May, 2010

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by John F. Dana

Two years ago it began snowing on Friday afternoon. It was late March. I was driving Jonathan Leathwood and 'cellist Rohan de Saram to a local church in Cleveland for their sound check, and the rental seemed to handle well enough. By 7:00 that evening it was coming down hard, but I felt confident we could make the hall; after the concert, well that's what cabs are for. By Saturday noon the snow was piling up at the rate of 2" an hour; we ended up breaking trail from Glidden House through knee-high snow carrying Nigel North's lutes and music to Mixon Hall at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Fast forward to concert time: Elizabethan lute; intermission; Weiss and Bach on theorbo - all this against a three story backdrop of glass with the snow swirling wildly against the trees and shrubs. It was pure magic.

Back to Glidden House to park the lutes, music and concert duds, then next door for dinner. Despite the weather, the restaurant was humming; we brought some tables together and invited a lone diner to move her table over to join us. As it turns out she's a fan, had attended the concert, and considered the forced camaraderie "every concert goer's dream!." Nigel reminisced about being snowed in at a church in the English countryside for three days after a concert; Jonathan reminisced about having, as a youth, attended a concert by Nigel which cemented his determination to be a musician; and Rohan reminisced about being at CBS in Manhattan back in the 60's hanging out with Glen Gould.

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Guitar Weekend ["GW"] now happens in late May, flowering shrubs not snow, but the magic remains and this three day festival is still "every concert goer's dream." Last May's GW brought together Nigel North, lute; Daniel Lippel, guitar with Tony Arnold, soprano; Duo Melis, guitars; and Jason Vieaux, who along with heading the CIM guitar department performs around 50 recitals a year. Also present was Andrea Tacchi, master luthier from Florence, Italy.

Much as last May's Dan Lippel concert was conceived as "an intensely personal musical journey," the GW selection committee consistently invites virtuoso musicians of the highest order to perform recitals which journey widely across our chosen instrument's vast musical landscape. Collegiality is crucial at GW: the performers remain for the entire weekend, giving master classes, attending each other's concerts, and joining each evening after the final recital with student participants for a shared dinner.

Some of last May's highlights included Nigel North playing a brilliant all Dowland recital. Fast forward two days to Nigel's master class with the lutenist insightfully coaching a CIM guitar student on how to inject more music into guitarist/composer Barrios's "La Catredal." As Nigel said, "Bach certainly didn't know Barrios, but Barrios knew Bach." The quintessential GW recipe: take one part virtuoso, add two giants of the repertoire, stir in a talented student at the beginning of his career, add a dollop of fascinated onlookers and shake vigorously.

Dan Lippel's guitars (a Stauffer reproduction by Bernhard Kresse and a contemporary instrument by Robert Ruck), with Tony Arnold's golden voice, presented an emotionally rich, extended song cycle combining Schubert works and contemporary songs by Peter Gilbert (a CIM alum.) and Judah Adashi (world premiere). Lippel also offered the world premiere of Vineet Shende's "Suite in Raag Maarva" (with the composer attending), combining Hindustani musical forms with traditional western classical music; sitar into guitar.

Duo Melis played an exciting, fast-paced concert ranging from Spanish to Argentine to Italian and French Baroque. The Duo is noteworthy for brilliantly executed passages, at remarkable speed and articulation, without sacrificing musicality for virtuosity. Their artfully synchronized playing, with gorgeous tone, brought extended ovations.

Attending GW master classes has proved invaluable. Two unanticipated benefits are getting to know the performers in a relaxed, interactive setting, and the students as they play a different piece in each master class. They are young, extremely talented musicians at the beginnings of their careers; their enthusiasm, at least, is catching, if not their growing virtuosity. Jason Vieaux' class deserves special mention, not just for his insightful teaching but for its ambitious real time audio video link with students at the Royal College of Music in London - an exciting experience and a real vision of how teaching at such a high level can be made more freely available.

Mixed in with all this guitar playing was Andrea Tacchi's artful and heartfelt discussion of guitar making. He began commuting yearly to Paris as a young man and was fortunate to be taken under the wing of Robert Bouchet. Andrea shared anecdotes (Bouchet, even in his 80's had a sharp wit and loved playing slight of hand magic card tricks), but he also shared the unanticipated concept that the Maestro's handwritten and illustrated "Cahiers d'Atelier" embody the only written account of the traditional Spanish method of making guitars. Andrea then described the development of his Coclea model, and various changes he has made in both design and order of assembly to reproduce better the sound he hears in his head. Echoes of Nigel North's advice: Tape your playing so that over time it grows to mirror more exactly what you hear in your mind's ear - Plato merging into Aristotle; the ideal becoming real in performed music.

Finally, to cap things off, a magnificent closing concert by Jason Vieaux on his well known Gernot Wagner guitar - one last standing ovation, gracious thank you by Jason to all and a surprise encore - a crowd-pleasing arrangement of Ellington's In a Sentimental Mood, performed on Tacchi's "Scrjabin" guitar, the poster child for GW 2010 with its intricately interwoven collage rosette, combining the past with the new in unexpected harmony.

Pure Magic indeed!

From clevelandclassical.com:

Concert Reports
Classical Guitar Weekend: Jason Vieaux at Kulas Hall (May 23, 2010)

by Mike Telin

Last Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Guitars International, in cooperation with the Cleveland Institute of Music, presented the 10th annual Classical Guitar Weekend. For the 2010 edition, the organizers once again put together a lineup of outstanding performers and clinicians including Daniel Lippel, Duo Melis (Susana Prieto and Alexis Muzurkis) as well as Nigel North, renaissance lute, and for the first time had a luthier included as part of the activities in the person of Italian master guitar maker, Andrea Tacchi, who also presented a lecture on the evolution of the classical guitar. As always, the weekend's program contained well-written scholarly program notes for each recital. If you were a performer or simply a lover of the classical guitar, this would be the weekend for you. And not surprisingly, an extremely large and enthusiastic audience descended upon CIM's Kulas Hall on Sunday afternoon at 4:00 for the final concert of the weekend given by the extraordinary master of the instrument, Jason Vieaux.

Vieaux, who is also head of CIM's guitar department, possesses that rare gift of appearing to be completely at ease both as a performer, but also in the relaxed manner in which he addresses the audience. Following the long welcoming applause, Vieaux wasted no time getting down to musical business as he began the afternoon with the Grand Overture, Op 61 of nineteenth century guitar virtuoso Mauro Giuliani. Producing a large rich tone, clean technique and a variety of colors, Jason Vieaux made this spritely piece a great recital opener. Prior to beginning the Lute Suite #3 in a minor BWV 995, Vieaux explained that this piece was actually an adaptation of an adaptation, as it first appeared as the 5th unaccompanied cello suite, and was later arranged for lute. Vieaux' approach, though rhythmically straightforward, clearly acknowledged that this was a series of dances. He filled them with musical nuance. The Sarabande was stunningly beautiful. Concluding the first half of the program was the lyrical Juila Florida and the lively Vals, Op. 8, No 3 of Agustin Barrios. Vieaux paced both of the short works beautifully.

Following intermission came the baroque suite inspired Quatre Pieces Breves by Swiss composer Frank Martin. In the hands of a lesser artist, this piece could easily become episodic, but Vieaux' technique allowed him to make the difficult shifts that the piece demands without every losing sight of the musical line. Cuban composer Leo Brouwer's programmatic work, El Decameron Negro is based on a West African tale about a warrior who is expelled from his tribe for wanting to play the harp instead of fighting. In the end everything works out, and he is welcomed back and permitted to play the harp. Vieaux told the story while demonstrating the series of Leitmotivs that represent the work's characters and events so well that while listening to his performance I found myself visualizing the action. The final piece on the program was "Sevilla" from the Suite Española of Isaac Albeniz. Upon conclusion, Vieaux was greeted with a well-deserved standing ovation from the audience, who refused to leave until they had heard one more piece. Returning to the stage with a guitar built by Andrea Tacchi, we were treated to Vieaux' own arrangement of Duke Ellington's In a Sentimental Mood, a perfect ending to a wonderful afternoon of music making.

From clevelandclassical.com:

Concert Reports
Classical Guitar Weekend: lutenist Nigel North at Mixon Hall (May 21, 2010)

by Daniel Hathaway

The first of four artist recitals in last weekend's Classical Guitar Weekend -- presented by Guitars International in cooperation with the Cleveland Institute of Music -- brought not a guitarist but the lutenist Nigel North to the stage of Mixon Hall for an all John Dowland program.

One of the lovely aspects of a festival -- as this weekend surely was -- is the freedom both to explore a range of music based on a theme or to go deep into a certain topic, like the lute songs and solo works of an English composer who was almost exactly William Shakespeare's contemporary. Hearing twenty-six pieces by one composer on a single program might ordinarily send one screaming from the room, but in the case of Elizabethan music as varied in texture and sensibility as Dowland's, it becomes a rare kind of pleasure.

Mr. North, born and educated in England but currently teaching in the early music department at Indiana University, assembled a program of Almains, Lachrimae's, Galliards, Fancye's, Fantasies, In Nomine's, Corantos and songs, grouping them more or less continuously into sets. The performer, almost as soft spoken as his seven course Renaissance Lute (after an instrument from 1590), gave charming spontaneous verbal notes in addition to two full pages of written notes in the program book.

Lute concerts (like clavichord recitals) are problematic. One really should be hearing this music at a distance of no more than ten feet from the player; even in the fine acoustics of Mixon Hall, the sound of a lute is a distant experience. Given that Mr. North is a performer who brings great subtlety and nuance to this repertory, you miss a lot in a concert hall setting.

Nonetheless, and in spite of Dowland's reputation for musical melancholy, this program was full of things to admire and cherish. The Fantasie was rich with dialogues and contrasts, the "battle galliard" called The King of Denmark brought a bit of fury into the first half, and chromatic pieces broke the prevailing mood of dance music from time to time. Mr. North was completely in control of the technique and expressiveness this music requires.

Described in the notes as "a man with a rather difficult complaining character" who nonetheless was praised and honored by his contemporaries, Dowland left a rich legacy of Elizabethan music behind. Thanks to Classical Guitar Weekend for allowing us to immerse ourselves in so much of it in a single concert.

Classical Guitar Weekend May 21-23, 2010

by Dave Conti

The following review first appeared in unedited form on the Delcamp.us Classical Guitar Forum - Tuesday, May 25, 2010. It is included here by kind permission of the author:

I went to the Classical Guitar Weekend in Cleveland, Ohio last weekend and all I can say is "wow." I got there on Friday night in time to see Nigel North on the lute play an all Dowland program in the Cleveland Institute of Music's wonderful new Mixon Hall, a great 250 seat acoustically great setting.

Now I love Dowland's work and North is truly first rate; he plays with just the flesh on his right hand and after I adjusted to the delicate sound of the lute it was fantastic. Everyone is always going on about louder and louder guitars but I can say that volume is not everything as his playing was captivating. I found myself being transported back 450 years to Dowland's time and the last piece he played was one of my favorites, "Forlorn Hope Fancy." He also had for sale a box set of 4 cd's of the complete lute music of Dowland for $25.00. This is over 4 hours of music and I considered it a steal and picked it up.

On Saturday morning I went to Andrea Tacchi's power point presentation on guitar lutherie. Now this might only be interesting to guitar geeks but I count myself as one and I found it fantastic. It was over 2 hours with the first hour being about his relationship with Robert Bouchet in Paris and the last hour about his shop in Florence. You could hear the passion he has for the guitar and his quest to continue to try to improve the sound and get it as close as possible to the one he "hears in his head."

Next up was a master class that was free to observers with Jason Vieaux, this was really cool as it was linked to the Royal College of Music in London where there was another Guitar teacher/player whose name escapes me but you could tell he was very, very good and an excellent instructor. They had four students play and the "master" in London would critique the students that played here and Mr. Vieaux would do the same for the students that played in London. This was very interesting and I see this approach being used more as internet connections get faster.

Now a word about Jason Vieaux, this man has a very engaging personality and the way he interacts with students was great. His passion for the guitar, like Andrea Tacchi, was evident. He has a lot of natural charisma and I can see him being able to take the guitar in America to a wide audience. I would love to see him do an album with Bela Fleck or Edgar Meyer and perform at some of the big festivals to showcase the guitar to a wide audience and take the classical guitar to the next level in public awareness since most people, let alone other "regular" guitar players don't know what a great instrument the classical guitar is. Getting to see Jason Vieaux play his Gernot Wagner double top up close in a small room was really neat. This guitar sounded fantastic but of course most of that is the guy behind the wheel. But when he dug in that double top was amazing - lots of tonal variation and dynamics and plenty of volume. He presented plenty of tips and just observing the class was worth the trip as I had plenty to practice when I got home. The students that played were all very good - they reminded me that my synapses respond a little slower than they used to as the students all picked up on suggestions very quickly. (I did grow up in the 70's !)

The last recital I saw was with Daniel Lippel and soprano Tony Arnold. I only got to stay for the first half as I had to high tale it back to Indy. Lippel played on his Robert Ruck guitar and a Bernhard Kresse 19th century Stauffer reproduction. These artists were again first rate musicians and I am sorry I couldn't stay for the second half. The program included Schubert lieder and other songs by Vineet Shende and Judah Adashi arranged in a large over arching song cycle.

The stuff I missed: Dan Lippel master class, Nigel North master class, Duo Melis master class and performance, Contemporary Guitar Exhibit and my biggest regret - not being able to see Vieaux perform. I always seem to miss him - as I was sick when he played in Bloomington not too long ago - but it gives me something to look forward to.

Kudos go to Armin Kelly and the staff at the Cleveland Institute of Music. I am going to block out the entire May weekend next year as there is too much stuff that is wonderful and lot's of it for free! If you are anywhere close make sure you mark Classical Guitar Weekend on your calendar.

Classical Guitar Weekend May 21-23, 2010

by Jim Doyle

This past weekend I traveled two hindred thirty-six miles to University Circle, where the Cleveland Institute of Music is located, to attend the 10th annual Classical Guitar Weekend. I was amidst 4 of the world's finest classical guitarists and top CIMu guitar students. I attended master classes,lectures and recitals during the entire weekend while absorbing some of the area's interesting local attractions. Staying at the Glidden House, which is located next to the CIM, allowed me to walk to all the events. As a result, I never had to start my car the entire weekend. It was very exciting to be around the plethora of students who are seriously studying guitar, and see how enthusiastic they are about their playing!

The weekend began Friday evening with a recital by lutenist Nigel North performing selected pieces by John Dowland. Nigel's playing was as sensitive as his teaching personality that I witnessed later in his master classes. He is passionate about musicianship, listening to the music and being sensitive to how the composers would have wanted their music to be played.

Daniel Lippel, guitarist, and Tony Arnold, soprano, treated the audience on Saturday afternoon to a duet of guitar and voice with music that I had never heard before. I especially liked the world premier of two Indian pieces, "Alap" and "Jhala," by composer Vineet Shende. The songs required in-performance tuning and retuning, and placement of items on the strings to mimic Indian instruments like the sitar.

Saturday evening, Duo Melis, Spanish Guitarist Susan Prieto and Greek Guitarist Alexis Muzurakis, impressed me with a duo recital which I will never forget! I have never in my life seen two guitarists in duet as responsive and connected as these two artists were. Even though there were two performers on stage, the impression was that they played as one instrument. I was on the edge of my seat the whole performance! Susana did something unique in performance that I have never seen before. She sat facing her duo partner instead of facing the audience, watching every move he made. The connectivity and sensitivity were astounding!

The final performance on Sunday afternoon with Jason Vieaux was worth the wait. His tone and calibre of playing is amazing! I had a chance to speak with his father during intermission. I asked him this question: "When Jason was growing up, did you ever think it would lead to this?" He said "absolutely not" and "in the beginning we didn't even know what the classical guitar was!" My favorite work of the evening was Julia Florida by Augustin Barrios. Jason's sensitive interpretation of this work made it come alive as if Barrios himself was there playing.

This was the first time Classical Guitar Weekend had a guitar make give a presentation. The great Italian guitar maker, Andrea Tacchi, gave a lecture on the classical guitar and its origins through the present day. I was especially interested in meeting him, because the soundboard on my guitar came from his workshop, harvested from the French Alps. I left Tacchi'ss presentation thinking about something he had said, "Knowledge is liquid. It takes the shape of the container that holds it." In conclusion, this is the reason why I devote time to travel to educational events like Classical Guitar Weekend. I wish to expose myself to expose myself to great people, the luminaries of this art, and in so doing be uplifted and inspired in my musical journey.