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Review: Sante Fe Guitar Quartet's music takes center stage SPEARFISH -- Four chairs, four music stands and four modestly illuminated black-clad guitarists indicated from the start that Thursday's performance by the Santa Fe Guitar Quartet was a serious concert free of show-business frills. Such a simple presentation was appropriate because it allowed the music to take center stage in the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center theater. The Rapid City Concert Association sponsored the performance. The quartet, named for Santa Fe Province, Argentina, is an innovative ensemble whose repertoire ranges from Baroque and classical works to tango and music with roots in South American folklore. The group's special sound has been described as "big, warm, round, and clear." The four members are Christopher Dorsey, Mariano Fontana, Miguel Piva and Eric Slavin. Each is a solo virtuoso on the guitar, but together, they produce an ensemble sound that is superb in blend and balance, rhythmically precise and, above all, musically wonderful. The concert opened with two dance episodes from "Rodeo," by Aaron Copland (1900-1990). This work, one of his ballet compositions for Martha Graham, makes use of cowboy, or Western, themes. The ensemble's performance of the excellent arrangement of the "Saturday Night Waltz" and the "Hoe Down" was fun to see and hear and provided a fine opening to the concert. "Hansa," by Tunisian composer Roland Dyens (1955-), was in three sections. The first, "Premiere Nouvelle," was quick and lively; the second,"Ballade en Faure," was a slow and mediative work, and the third, "Tunis, Tunisie," was based on an Arab-influenced theme and the use of percussive effects that dominated the work. "Almeria," from "Suite Iberia," by Spanish composer Isaac Albeniz (1860-1909), was the first of two Spanish pieces the group performed. This work was originally written for piano in 12 scenes in 1906-09. The arrangement for the ensemble was superb, as was the performance of this distinctly Spanish composition. After intermission, the quartet performed three Latin-American pieces by Cuban composer Paquito D'Rivera (1937-). The first was the Mexican "Wapango," which was lively and made use of two rhythms concurrently to create a complex feeling of movement. The second was the Cuban "Danzon," which made use of interesting percussive effects that changed the timbre, or sound, of the ensemble from the more traditional string sound of the guitar. The third was "Vals Venezolano," which balanced the other two works in an excellent manner. J.S. Bach's (1685-1750) well-known "Prelude and Fugue" began with an excellent performance of the prelude performed as a duet. It was followed by a wonderful performance of the fugue, proving to the audience that this ensemble is able to play in a variety of musical styles, and I believe this was one of the crowd pleasers of the evening. Since its beginning, the group has been a champion of the music of Argentine composer Astor Piazzola (1921-1992). As the final work on the program, the performance of three modern tangos by this composer was an indication of the group's dedication. These tangos are not in the tango rhythm that most dancers remember but instead are complex works of originality. The first, "Escualo," was fast paced and demanded great virtuosity from all four performers. The third, "Libertango," was fast and happy, and made great use of percussive and other innovative sound effects that enhanced the overall performance of the work. For an encore, the quartet performed a jazz arrangement of contemporary American composer Pat Metheny's "Better Days Ahead," which included a bit of scat singing and some virtuoso guitar playing by the members of the group. The performance of these four classical guitarist was outstanding and a great way to spend an evening of musical entertainment. Unfortunately, it coincided with Rapid City's first snowstorm of the season. Attendance was noticeably less than usual, no doubt because icy roads kept a number of concert regulars away. Victor Weidensee is a retired faculty member and former chairman of the Fine Arts Division at Black Hills State University. |
