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Alix Goolden Performance Hall
April 22, 2006
The press materials that precede Ana Vidovic emphasize her youth and her tremendous techical facility on the guitar. On her Naxos recital disc, Vidovic blasts through the Prelude of the Bach Lute Suite BWV 1006a (which is based on the third violin Partita) at breakneck speed, and as a result the buzz surrounding her talent has had a single focus: speed. But last night's audience witnessed something else, as well: it is clear that Ana Vidovic is a virtuoso musician, as well as having virtuoso technical skills.
Opening with the first Bach Sonata for Violin (BWV 1001), Vidovic put aside the dazzling speed. The Sonata begins with a slow Adagio movement, and here her use of vibrato, dynamics, and ornamentation were all deployed in the service of the music. Vidovic played the Sonata's technically demanding Fugue effortlessly, making splendid use of a variety of tone colours to separate the voices. It wasn't until the closing Presto that Vidovic's technical virtuosity became evident, with a tempo that was breathlessly fast but never sounding hurried.
The remainder of the programme emphasized the influence of Andres Segovia on twentieth century "classical guitar" music. Three of the pieces: Torroba's "Suite Castellana" and "Sonatina", and Ponce's "Sonatina meridional", were written for (and published as edited by) Segovia. These three works might be called impressionist nationalist music--there is strong flavour of Spanish folk music in them. In these pieces, Vidovic played the technically demanding passages without a hint of struggle, while at the same time drawing out the music.
Stjepan Sulek (1914-1983) was a Croatian composer, who wrote but one piece for guitar. "The Troubadours Three" sounds, as Vidovic noted, not Croatian but Spanish. The rendition we heard was nicely shaped, with the "Melancholy" containing echoes of the Fugue from the Bach Sonata that opened the evening. The final piece on the programme was Agustin Barrios's "La Cathedral", another impressionistic piece beautifully rendered.
My only gripe about Vidovic's performance was her choice of encore: Tarrega's "Recuerdos de la Alhambra". Although she played it flawlessly, this piece is the "Stairway to Heaven" of classical guitar, too often played (invariably as an encore). A guitarist as talented as Vidovic, who obviously has the talent to pull off anything, could surely choose something different as an encore--such as one of the Piazzolla pieces that were printed on the evening's programme, but omitted.
That quibble aside, Vidovic is a talent to be reckoned with. She can play fast and clean, but far more importantly, she plays musically.
MiV HomeLast modified: Sun Apr 23 20:04:13 PDT 2006