Guitar recital

Press, 12 September 1986, Page 8

Guitar recital

Guitar Festival and Workshop Recital, Centre Gallery, Arts Centre, September 11 at 1 p.m. Reviewed by Roger Flury. The sheer versatility of the guitar was highlighted by yesterday’s recital which featured works from the fifteenth century to the present day. Paul Marks was allocated the difficult opening spot. Engaged at short notice, he took a little while to settle down, but his programme of blues and ballads was impressive in its scope. Traditional blues and rags were interspersed with folk-songs, and in > some ways, the latter

were the most successful. "Danny Boy” had an improvisatory feel to it with interesting harmonies, and the beautiful “O Waly, Waly” benefited from a superb arrangement and heart-felt delivery of the vocal line. Kim Rockell’s programme of twentieth century pieces by Villa-Lobos, De Falla, Brouwer, and Torroba was a challenging one. None of the pieces holds the interest through its thematic material alone, and it is left to the performer to put it across. Mr Rockell has the gifts of communication, and his elegant delivery compelled attention. The

range of dynamics and tone colours at his disposal was most impressive.

By contrast, the duo of Michael Watson (guitar) and vocalist Penny proved a slight anti-climax. Some technical problems in the opening item, and a rather bland vocal style, did not do justice to the material. An attractive song by Sors was given with more feeling, but the vocalist sounded most at home in “The First Time I Saw Your Face” and “The Fool on the Hill.” The festival will end today with a lunch-time recital—, by Antonio Losada.