Belated reviews Part 1: Baltimore Classical Guitar Society
Besides, once that storm did hit, who was going to waste time reading my reviews of some musical events last weekend?
Well, just for the record, I do want to say a few words about two concerts I caught, starting Saturday night at Towson University, where the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet opened the Baltimore Classical Guitar Society's 25th anniversary season.
(I will subsequently report on the U.S. debut of Cuba's Schola Cantorum Coralina in Annapolis.)
After more than three decades, the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet remains a formidable ensemble, both in terms of technical bravura and ...
A highlight was a suite from Stravinsky's "Pulcinella." This baroque-meets-20th-century score makes a fine fit for guitars, and the quartet made the most of Kanengiser's arrangement, producing a richly vibrant tone and articulating with admirable expressive nuance. There was brilliant interplay between the guitarists in selections from de Falla's "El amor brujo" and Bryan Johanson's propulsive, percussive and witty "On All Fours." A group of Brazilian pieces emerged in vivid detail. And it was cool to hear the guitarists switch into a persuasive jazz mode for classics by Miles Davis and John Coltrane (Greif did the arrangements); they hit an especially cool groove in "So What" and explored the smoky, late-night world of "Blue in Green" with impressive subtlety. The Baltimore Classical Guitar Society has more attractions planned for its silver anniversary, including concerts by Sergio and Odair Assad (Feb. 9) and Manuel Barrueco (April 27). Here's a taste of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, playing a work by Antonio Carlos Jobim: PHOTO COURTESY OF LAGQ.COM
