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Church of Christ Scientist
October 10, 2014
This is my third attempt at getting this review written in a satisfactory manner. I had written one that just seemed to flow naturally out of my response to the concert given by Roland Dyens, a French classical guitarist. I had written about the structure of the program (although Dyens does not publish the concert program, leaving himself room to choose pieces that strike his fancy in the moment), the selection of music that was performed, and his engagement with the music.
But after putting pen to paper, I thought I would revisit my review of an earlier Roland Dyens concert in Victoria. Upon doing so, the first thing that struck me was that the concert was seven years ago, in 2007 - where did the time go? The second was that each evening's music followed a very similar structure, with some overlap in the specific pieces performed. My third observation was that my 2007 review also followed a very similar structure to the one I had just written, including some identical turns of phrase.
A crisis of sorts ensued. It was clear that I could not submit the review I had written, and that I would have to approach the structure and content of the review in a different manner. But how? I struggled with self-consciously writing something different, but to my eyes it was stilted and awkward.
After pondering the dilemna for a few more days, I was struck by the thought that I was confronted by a conundrum that might face Dyens - how does one keep it fresh but still be true to The Muse? (Admittedly, this review is not art! [I disagree. Ed.]) So what follows is a re-working of the first stab at my review of Roland Dyens' 2014 concert in Victoria. And I apologize if you're read this before...
The concert opened not with Dyens, but with an ensemble of local guitarists playing a piece written by Dyens. In this case, it was the delightful Austin Tango, performed by the dozen members of Victoria Guitars, and directed by Alexander Dunn. The piece has a fetching main theme, and offers a variety of solo and ensemble orchestrations to ensure that the ear of the listener does not grow weary. The piece must be a great deal of fun to play; the members of the ensemble certainly seemed to enjoy themselves during their performance.
As he often does, Roland Dyens took the stage and opened the concert with an improvisation. In the printed program, it states that the improvisation is in essence a prelude, a way to get a feel for the acoustics of the room and the audience. The improvisation was based on what we might consider idiomatically "guitar" chords, voicings, and timbres. Musically, one heard echoes of the modern classical composers such as Brouwer and Takemitsu, as well as jazz influences such as the music of Ralph Towner and Keith Jarrett.
With the palate whetted, Dyens moved on the the main part of the program. Through the remainder of the concert, he wove his own compositions (such as the jazzy Angel's Waltz and the tremolo-based piece El Último Recuerdo (Hommage to Barrios and Tárrega)) with classical compositions, including transcriptions of Tchaikovsky and Chopin along with those of Classical and Romantic-era guitar composers such as Fernando Sor.
Throughout the concert, Dyens engaged with the audience, introducing each piece and telling little stories - often amusing anecdotes - prior to playing.
A highlight was the performance, and a further demonstration of the range of repertoire that Dyens has at his disposal, of his arrangement of jazz great Django Reinhardt's Nuages. Dyens started the piece with a free-form introduction, then shifting to the body of the tune. It lands in a place not far removed from what we might imagine Joe Pass or Jim Hall might play; entirely idiomatic and convincing.
Acknowledging the influence of Brazilian music in his own, Dyens performed Caninhoso by the great Brazilian choro composer Pixinguinha, followed by an original piece, Berimbau, which sounded to my ears to be heavily influenced by Egberto Gismonti, with a healthy dash of Jobim's sambas. This pairing was another highlight of the evening, charming and passionate in turn.
Dyens returned to the stage for an encore, and left the audience with Erik Satie's Gnossienne No.1. The languid, pensive piece was a wonderful way to close the evening.
The concert may have followed the same structure, and included some of the same pieces as were performed seven years ago, but it is clearly an approach that works for Dyens. The concert structure clearly works for him, and ensures that the audience is engaged and provides them a satisfying experience. I look forward to Dyens' return to Victoria in 2021!
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