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RECITAL REVIEW
April 9, 2006
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The Power of Two By Peter Danner
Eliot Fisk and Paco Peña, two highly regarded practitioners of somewhat different guitar traditions, joined forces Sunday afternoon before a sold-out audience in Stanford's Dinkelspiel Auditorium.
There is an inherent danger in such crossover ventures. Attempts to combine jazz with classical, for instance, often fail to tap the strengths of either tradition. It takes the talents of a Gershwin or a Kronos Quartet to pull it off. Fortunately, Fisk and Peña are musicians of that caliber. Furthermore, the Spanish classical guitar tradition is often closely enough aligned to that of flamenco for the two to meld into a seamless whole.
There is also a danger with programs "to be announced from the stage." Are the artists simply going to wing it, or will they play music of real substance? Here, too, Fisk and Peña passed the test. The music was of a consistently high level, with no attempts to "pad." In their classical duets, Peña took a secondary role, playing from memory, while in the flamenco pieces, the Philadelphia-born Fisk looked like a delighted student following the lead of his Andalusian master.
A set of three short flamenco solos by Peña set the stage for Fisk's classical set to follow. The performance was amplified by a microphone, placed in front of the instrument, that was more flattering to the somewhat more brittle sound of Peña's flamenco guitar than it was to Fisk's. (The two instruments are slightly differently constructed.) Peña mentioned that flamenco had grown out of the folk tradition of southern Spain. Originally, the guitar played an accompanying role to singing or dancing, and it was only in the last century that solo flamenco guitar (toque) began to flourish in the hands of such masters as Ramón Montoya. The integration of the vocal line onto the guitar was beautifully illustrated by Peña's second solo, which I understood to be titled Cisne, or “swan.” (This is another difficulty of programs “announced from the stage”: It is often hard for the audience to identify just what music is being played, especially unfamiliar repertoire with foreign titles.) Fisk opened his classical set with Fernando Sor's famous Variations on a Theme by Mozart. There is no trace of flamenco here; the choice appeared to be made simply because Sor was Spanish. Fisk did not appear entirely at ease (at one point he referred to his stiff neck — perhaps the result of airline travel), and his performance was not flawless. Still, the Sor built nicely to a rousing coda that showed flashes of Fisk's technical ability. Rodrigo's Hommage à Manuel de Falla, with which Fisk continued, is a flamenco-inspired score in that it quotes from Falla's famous El Amore Brujo. Also known as Invocation et Danse, Hommage is a favorite set piece at guitar competitions, since it presents a number of technical challenges. These Fisk met with no difficulty, and certain accents appeared in unexpected places. His phrasing provided a refreshing alternative to what is offered by most readings. Fisk concluded his solo offerings with two Spanish favorites by Albéniz. Although originally for piano, both Granada and Asturias have long been played by guitarists, which makes sense in that Asturias (or Leyenda) actually imitates the sound of a guitar.
It was only after intermission that Fisk and Peña combined their talents in two contrasting sets of duets. Although known as a flamenco artist, Peña seemed perfectly at ease joining Fisk in a selection of Scarlatti sonatas and Bach preludes. The highlight was the first of two Bach pieces, which I identify as the D-minor Prelude from the second book of the Well-Tempered Clavier. This flowed in a most impressive manner and was a pleasure to listen to. The Scarlatti sonatas were also successful, although they were too similar in mood to work well together as a group. Surely, among Scarlatti's 600 sonatas must be a few to offer contrast to the rather martial-sounding selection played. What did offer contrast to this baroque-laden set was one of Mendelssohn's lyrical Songs without Words (I think from the same opus as the immortal Spring Song). Like the Bach prelude, this worked very well in guitar transcription. The afternoon concluded with a rousing group of flamenco duets. Although probably hybrids, they sounded perfectly natural. Fisk looked like a kid in a candy store, and Peña was clearly in his element. The highlight was surely Farrucas, with its infectious rhythm and fetching melody. This was music to produce a standing ovation and send everyone home in a cheery mood on a gloomy day.
(Peter Danner is editor of Soundboard, a quarterly magazine for
classical guitarists, and past president of the Lute Society of America.)
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