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| Emily Granger and Andrew Blanch performing "Suite Majica" at Wesley Music Centre, Canberra. |
Wesley Music
Centre, Canberra, February 8th 2024.
Reviewed by
BILL STEPHENS.
Given how
beautifully harp and guitar blend together, it is surprising that there are not
more compositions written for this combination. Andrew Blanch and Emily Granger
solved this problem by commissioning well-known Australian composers and
musicians to write or arrange pieces especially for this combination. They’ve then
preserved the resulting compositions on a beguiling debut CD entitled Suite
Magica . This concert was part
of a whirlwind eight-city tour to promote the CD. It also served to introduce
the duo to a wider audience.
Guitarist Andrew Blanch already has a growing
profile as a concerto soloist having performed and recorded with orchestras
through Australia, Spain and most recently Brazil where he recorded a new guitar
concerto by Chilean-Australian composer Daniel Rojas.
Principal
Harp with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, US-born, Australian based harpist Emily Granger effortlessly straddles
the worlds of classical, popular and art music, including appearances with
Yo-Yo Ma, Sarah Blasko and Renee Fleming, recitals in Carnegie Hall and the
Kennedy Center, and performances with
the Chicago, Sydney and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras.
This
experience was evidenced in their casually dressed, relaxed and confident
demeanor as they took the stage at the Wesley Music Centre to introduce themselves and their program.
Their recital,
which lasted just on an hour without interval, commenced approprietly with the
composition which also provided the title for their album, Suite Majica.
Suite Majica was composed by Argentinian
classical guitarist and composer, Maximo Diego Pujol especially for guitar and
harp. It consists of four beguiling short pieces which cleverly exploit the
dynamics of the individual instruments while showcasing how beautifully they
blend.
The confidence
and virtuosity of the two musicians belied the complexity of each piece allowing
the audience to delight in the resonance and beauty of this particular
combination of instruments.
The first of
several special commissions by the duo followed. A pretty, inventive ear-worm composition
from Elena Kats-Chernin, entitled Fleeting
Encounters demonstrated exactly why this composer is so popular among
instrumentalists seeking engaging repertoire.
Similarly
Sally Whitwell, with her suite, Tiny Dances, displayed her inventiveness with six short miniatures, the first
and last of which involved the use of a ticking metronome.
A lovely arrangement
by Australian guitarist/composer Richard Charlton of Maurice Ravel’s Pavane
pour une infant defunct, was followed
Forest
Stories, a dreamy composition by Sydney-based
composer, Tristen Coelho, which cleverly conjured up impressions of a walk
through a forest.
Blanch and
Granger ended their alluring program with a dazzling display of virtuosity with
a composition by Brazilian guitarist, Marco Pereira, Fantasia Concertante which
left their audience demanding an encore.
Of course
they obliged, offering their own arrangement of Ross Edward’s lovely lullaby, Emily’s
Song following which the blissed out audience hurried into the foyer to
secure their own autographed copy of a CD destined to become a personal
favourite.
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| Emily Granger and Andrew Blanch concluding their performance of "Suite Majica" in the Wesley Music Centre in Canberra Images by Peter Hislop This review also published in AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW. www.artsreview.com.au |
