A versatile guitar

Press, 1 October 1979, Page 14

A versatile guitar

By

HEATH LEES

Some people might argue; that a whole evening of cias-j sical guitar would be. to sayj the least, an acquired taste.; Miles Jackson’s concert last* evening in the Arts Centre showed how ill-founded such a notion can be. Variety and versatility I abounded, both in the choice | of music and in the playing. ;Mr Jackson displayed a symj pathetic musicianship and combined this with a genI erally secure technique. His musical memory was rentable, too: he dispensed enI tirely with the music and the music stand, thus giving the

I audience unobstructed viewi of the musician at work, and . also enabling him to project i his obviously real affinity for I the music. i The first half of the concert comprised music of the Baroque, and the performer’s skilful handling of phrases, allied with a purposeful rhythmic sense made for a musically rewarding tour through Europe. If the Bach movements — brilliantly transcribed for guitar — were a little strained, and lost something of the polyphonic thrust in places, no matter: the sun of Italy quickly revived us, and the pieces by Alessandro and

i Domenico Scarlatti were a treat to listen to. Room acoustics and the necessity for frequent tunings made the guitar a little on the flat side, and the livelier movements of the Buxtehude Suite lost a little of their bite, though the Allemande and Sarabands were both movingly played. The second half of the concert consisted entirely of Twentieth Century music and was more characteristic in the sense that all of the music was originally written with the guitar in mind. Mr Jackson explored fully all the possibilities that the repertoire offered.