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 November
9, 2001 Friday night at the Mesquite Arts Center the
Dallas Classic Guitar Society held its first showcase
of the 2001-2002 Season. These are special concerts,
benefiting the programs of the Society, and featuring
members and friends of the DCGS Advisory Board. For
local guitar lovers, it is an opportunity to enjoy
the best that the Dallas/Fort Worth area has to offer
in terms of guitar talent.
Opening Friday night’s show was Beau Benson.
Currently studying at SMU’s Meadows School of
the Arts, Benson began playing the guitar with his
father at the age of five. He has traveled throughout
the United States and Italy and performed with numerous
ensembles and orchestras. He played works by two Spanish
composers, opening with Leyenda by Manjon. His playing
is very good and features a nice use of dynamics.
The second work he performed, Invocacion et Danse
was an interesting composition, with a repeating section
that sounded like church bells. Benson played an Ignacio
M. Rozas guitar dated 1999.
Following
Benson was Randall Nye, playing a guitar by Manuel
Contreras dated 1986. This was an exquisite instrument
to look at even from a distance, and it had a beautiful
warm sound.
Nye
opened with a series of three very nice pieces by
Gaspar Sanz. Then he took a moment to tell the audience
about his next two pieces. The first, Cancion de Cuna,
by Leo Brouwer, is a lullaby, and the second, Julia
Florida (Barcorola), by Agustin Barrios, continued
the theme of children and childhood. Barrios wrote
the work for his 14-year-old daughter, who was just
beginning to blossom, hence the name Julia Florida.
This was a very moving and emotional work, and Nye
played it beautifully, with just the right amount
of tenderness. He concluded his performance with Sons
de Cariloes by Giumares, an early 20th century composer.
Nye holds bachelors and masters degrees from SMU and
is currently a member of the faculty at Eastfield
College, and has been a featured performer in Yugoslavia
and on European radio.
Sabine Madriguera was the only female performer on
a program of men and she really held her own. Playing
on a Perfecto Rubio Vasquez guitar, Madriguera’s
performance was outstanding and quite enjoyable. She
chose to play four folk tunes from Venezuela by Vincent
E. Sojo: Cantico, Aguinaldo, Cancion, and Galeron.
Sojo lived from 1887 to 1974, but there were definitely
some Baroque undertones to his work, particularly
in the Cantico. Originally from Germany, Madriguera
has found a home in Dallas teaching at guitar at Eastfield
College, the German language at Collin County Community
College, and music at two local Montessori schools.
Following a brief intermission, John Galvan took the
stage. Although he has only played the classic guitar
since 1997, Galvan’s playing clearly displays
that most dangerous of all critical ideas ¯ potential.
Clearly playing is second nature to him, and he has
a real gift for the guitar; his playing is brilliant.
The first work he selected, Campanas de Alba by Eduardo
Sainz de la Maza, had a very nice sound and was quite
pleasant throughout. His second work, Elegy ¯
Hommage a Sibelius opened in a way that sounded almost
atonal. Fortunately, the middle of the work proved
a beautiful showcase for Galvan’s considerable
mastery of the guitar. But then again, at the end,
the work took a turn for the worse with a return to
the original pattern. There is not a doubt that he
gave an first-rate performance of the work ¯
it is the work itself that is less than gratifying.
Another exceptionally talented guitarist was next,
Mitch Weverka from Fort Worth. Weverka has a style
of playing that was different from any of the other
guitarists showcased, yet wonderful to watch and hear.
He plays with passion and concentration, and seems
to be exploring every nuance of his instrument as
he moves along the instrument. Like Galvan, Weverka
played on a guitar by Ignacio M. Rozas. He played
a three-part Sonata, “Lejanias,” composed
by Ernesto Garcia de Leon in 1992. He moved from the
Allegro Moderato, Lento right into Lejano and concluded
with Son with polish and smoothness; his was a thoroughly
satisfying and inspired performance. Weverka spent
time studying in Cremona, Italy and also at SMU and
the Cleveland Institute of Music. A founding member
and director of Classic Guitar in Fort Worth Inc.,
Weverka is adjunct faculty at Tarrant County College
and is pursuing post-graduate degrees at TCU and SMU,
as well as maintaining a private studio.
Concluding the evening’s performances was Robert
Harding, who proved worth the wait many times over.
He was the first guitarist accepted into SMU’s
current guitar program to study with Robert Guthrie,
and he also studied in Spain with Luis Rodrigo and
Jose Tomas. The Spanish influence was evident in Harding’s
first selection, the Danza del fuego fatuo by Manuel
de Falla, which he jokingly referred to as a “Spanish
Harry Potter.” The work is actually from an opera,
full of spells and incantations. It is a wonderful
little work and a very pleasant way to open a performance.
Harding concluded with two works by Isaac Albeniz,
Mallorca and Sevilla, each originally composed for
the piano. Mallorca was arranged for the guitar by
Andres Segovia. For a few minutes the entire audience
was transported from Mesquite to a light, breezy island
with all of its beauty and warmth; I have never been
to that island, but I feel like I know exactly what
it would be like to be there. To say that Harding
has considerable talent would be a huge understatement.
He plays with an effortlessness that is at the same
time amazing and considerably gratifying for the audience,
and it is easy to understand why he was chosen to
headline the program.
The Dallas Classic Guitar Society actively sponsors
concerts throughout the year, including guitar “get
togethers” at Half Price Books on Northwest Highway
(the next one is December 9th at 4 pm) and free concerts
at the Dallas Museum of Art on selected weekends (Bryan
Burns will play December 8th at 3 PM). The next featured
concert performer of the 2001-2002 Season, The Many
Faces of Guitar, will be Roberto Aussel on January
29th at Caruth Auditorium on the SMU Campus, 8 PM
Find
out more at http://www.dallasguitar.org
- Rebecca Lewis, Classical Editor, dallasmusic.com
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