Spanish guitars
were made for summer nights and stone-paved courtyards.
The courtyard of the Alhambra Hotel in Honolulu may not
be the Alhambra of Spain, and Saturday's summer night was
marked by brief showers, but this didn't make any
difference to the audience at the first of three Guitar
Society concerts in the Music for a Summer
Evening series. The courtyard was filled to
capacity-plus, with spare chairs wedged into just about
every corner. Moreover, the audience stayed, despite the
intermittent drizzle, to demand--and receive--a double
encore at the finale of a thoroughly satisfying opening
for the Guild's 50th season.
The eminent guitar
virtuoso Andrés Segovia--now 106 years old--was
the auspicious choice as guest artist for the evening.
Although the Spanish maestro had to be helped onto the
stage, he displayed a pleasant, unassuming stage presence
and a passionate, articulate style.
The popular Mille
Regrets (1000 Regrets) by Josquin des Préz
provided an elegant but somewhat somber opening.
Diferencias sobre "Guardame las Vacas" (Variations
on Keep Watch on the Cows) followed and proved to
be especially exciting due to rapid passage work,
register changes and spirited melody. Both these popular
Renaissance airs were arranged by Luis de Narváez
and published in his 16th-century vihuela book. Although
these pieces were enriched by the guitar's darker and
more robust sonority, Segovia's articulate technique
managed to retain intriguing hints of the more delicately
colored lute originals, making for a fresh but slightly
understated opening.
The Three Cuban
Airs by the contemporary Cuban composer Léo
Brouwer--marked by bolder tones rendered in an
introspective, almost improvisational manner--made an
engaging contrast to the opening Narváez and an
attractive bridge to the richer sonority of the three
Fernando Sor works that closed the program's first half.
The first Sor work, Minuet in D, although
well performed, was musically slight--it sounded like a
'parlor waltz' rather than a courtly dance. However, the
second Sor work, Andante Largo, was
especially beautiful: the bell-like mini-scales in the
outer sections provided an exquisite contrast to the
gently melodic center section.
Maxixe by
the Brazilian composer João Guimarães
opened the second half with exciting passage work,
syncopations and harmonics. Next, the two dances by
Johann Kaspar Mertz, Polacca Op. 5, No. 3
and Tarantelle Op. 13, No. 6, revealed
Segovia's most intense emotions of the evening. The bold,
rollicking phrases of the Polacca and the
sprightly paced Tarantelle were rendered
full-voiced and splendidly resonant in a fine Segovia
finale that evoked sustained applause and calls for
"encore," which, in turn, were rewarded with by a Spanish
folk song and a Scarlatti sonata. Segovia, visually tired
after an almost flawless concert, faltered somewhat in
the sonata but managed a smooth recovery--in spite of the
pouring rain only a few feet in front of the stage! A
handsome end to a totally enjoyable concert.
I expected very little
from a musician over a hundred years old. However, his
music revealed no traces of his age: his tone was clear
and vibrant, his expression was sensitive and
impassioned, and his technique was nothing short of
perfect. Moreover, the program was masterfully arranged
with the right amounts of musical and stylistic contrast
between numbers. The 'living legend' status of the
Andalusian virtuoso is well founded. Segovia is a vibrant
and living example of a wonderful remark George Bernard
Shaw once made: "The greatest thing in life is to die
young--but delay it as long as possible." At the young
age of 106 years, Segovia and his music continue to
maintain a youthful vitality, intellectual vigor and,
above all, joie de vivre.
