BWW Reviews: ADELAIDE INTERNATIONAL GUITAR FESTIVAL 2014: CD: RECOLLECTIONS is a Memorable Collection of Music

Reviewed 26th August 2014

One of the events associated with this Festival was the '15 minutes of fame', a competition in which the winners get to perform in the Space Theatre foyer between the various concerts. They later compete against one another again during the weekend. I was fortunate enough to hear two young Melbourne guitarists, Ziggy (19) and Miles Johnston (16), when they performed in the foyer, and followed up by talking to them and their parents. They gave me a Recollections CD to review which, coincidentally, had been produced by Slava Grigoryan, the Artistic Director of the Festival. These two performers were also finalists in the main competition.

The recording quality of this CD, by Sing Sing recording studios of Melbourne, is extremely high quality and permits the listener to hear clearly how talented these brothers are, and what enormous potential they have for a future in music. There is no shortage of works for two guitars and, thanks to Slava Grigoryan and his brother, Leonard, who often play duets together, there are more compositions are being written all the time. The Johnston brothers could easily follow in their footsteps.

The music on the CD gives a good spread of styles, beginning with Please Do Not Feed the Fish, by Jessop Maticevski-Shumack, himself still a teenager. Variation of dynamics is an important part of this work and the brothers negotiate all of the changes with great coordination, the openness of the harmonies allowing the listener to hear how tightly they perform together.

I am a great fan of Máximo Diego Pujol, who appeared in this Festival, and so I was very pleased to see that the second piece was one of his compositions, the three movement, Sonatina Caótica. This is a work filled with Latin colour and fire, demanding more than simply great technique. The technique is there, of course, and the duo exhibit an understanding of the requirements of Pujol's modern Tango styling, an extension of that begun by the great bandoneonista, Ástor Piazzolla. The slower second movement is filled with darker emotions, essential to the Tango, and pleasantly surprising to find in such young performers. The strongly rhythmic and lively third movement emphasises the accuracy of their playing, as crisp and clean as anybody could wish.

Andrew York's gentle Evening Dance was next, flowing along in slow waltz time to begin with, then bursting into rapid runs, to a series of variations that challenge, and which the brothers negotiate with great skill, infusing the work with increasing passion.

Next are Three Duets: Mantis and the Moon, Lament, and Alchemy, by Phillip Houghton, the first playful, skipping along gaily, the second filled with melancholy, and the third, with occasional hints at the Gypsy Jazz of Django Reinhardt, is very rhythmic and filled with rapid runs, brightly closing the duets. The two guitarists play as one sensationally bringing out all of the nuances of the work.

The final track is Richard Charlton's Romanza, which also draws on the ability of the duo to engage with the emotional content of the work, and one can almost hear the music breathing as they play. Their musical maturity is well beyond their years.

This CD is well worth adding to your collection, and be sure to keep an eye open for these two fine guitarists performing in concert, as they are bound to become very well-known and sought after in the near future. You can purchase a copy of the CD here.

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