lunedì 10 dicembre 2012

Reviews of Gismontiana by Guitart Quartet, GHA Records 2012



Italian Translation

Two composers divide the sound space of this cd: Cuban Leo Brouwer, born in 1939 in Havana, and Brazilian Egberto Gismonti, in 1947 Carmo, in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Two composerswith great differences among them but united by an artistic production characterized by a complete opening toward the popular music of their respective countries conjugated with a classical and contemporary training, intelligence and talent, in which the guitar occupies a meaningful place. Brouwer has devoted more than sixty compositions, included numerous concerts, while Gismonti is well known for his abilities to invent new sonorities on a guitar endowed with additional strings and with a special tuning that confer to his music an unusual character.
The Brouwer that we listen to in this record is not the contemporary composer that has signed music as Espiral Eternal, but the author of music directly draw to the Cuban popular tradition characterized by a simpler and immediate language. Passages as: "Toccata for guitar quartet", where instruments seem to chase each other, “Acerca del cielo, el aire y la sonrisa”, that dates from the same period, originally conceived for four guitar’s ensembles and here transcribed for a single quartet. "Cuban Landscape with Rain" and "Cuban Landscape with Rumba" belong to a series of four Cuban landscapes. Originally entitled "Serenade de Castres", "Cuban Landscape with Rain" represents an evocation of the rain that begins with few delicate drops of water, turned into a torrential tropical rain untill the return of the calm.  For the execution of "Cuban Landscape with Rumba" Brouwer recommends the use of prepared guitars in the first part of the piece, in such way to modify the sounds of the intruments, the Guitart Quartet has chosen to use some pieces of tissue in a way to be able to change the color of the sound of the four guitars without altering their tuning.
In 2001, sixteen years later Brouwer composes and devotes the " Concierto italico for four guitars and string orchestra "  for the Guitart Quartet that performed it the first time under the management of the same Brouwer in Todi. The success of this composition, performed more than 70 times all over the world, pushes Guitart to ask for a new concert from the strong Brazilian influences, while the idea of the composer was instead that to draw to the repertoire of the Beatleses, repeating the experience of "From Yesterday to Penny Lane."
At the end, the admiration from all rendered toward Egberto Gismonti, so it was decided that the future "Concert brasileiro" would have looked for its own reasons to be in the universe of the Brazilian jazzman. The result is "Gismontiana", a composition in five movements, four taken by themes already performed by the duo Assad and the fifth one, " Cadenza sobre Gismonti " where the main themes are reassumed and elaborated again.
The world premiere recording of "Gismontana" is not the only homage to the Brazilian composer / guitarist, in the cd we can find also the well known "Agua and vinho" and "Frevo", brought to the world success from Al di Meola, John Mcclaughin and Paco De Lucia and " A fala da paixão " and "Baião malandro" Four very beautiful passages, perfect testimonies of his romantic, melodic, innovative and popular approach to the guitar.
And the Guitars Quartet: Lucio Matarazzo, Oscar Bellomo, Gianvito Pulzone and Gianluca Allocca? They are fantastic musicians!

www.guitartquartet.it

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