Peninsula
Darko Nikčeviĉ (guitar, udu)
Srdjan Bulatović (guitar).
rec. 2019, Studio 6, Podgorica, Radio Montenegro
NAXOS 8.574193 [61:02]
Both from Montenegro (Bulatović being born in Podgorica and Nikčeviĉ in Nikšić), these two guitarist-composers have been working together for over 25 years. Both of them clearly love the folk music of their native country, but both are also influenced by a range of musical idioms from around the Mediterranean and further afield. That it should be so is, in a sense, a natural reflection of the cultural history of their native land, Montenegro, which has been, at various times, much influenced by Byzantine, Venetian and Turkish models. Discussing his composition ‘Peninsula’ which opens the disc, and gives it its title, Darko Nikčeviĉ writes that “the three large Mediterranean peninsulas (the Balkans, Iberia and the Apennines) are inhabited by very similar people, descendants of the oldest cultures of the Western world”.
Such CDs by the duo as I have heard are made up entirely of their own compositions, as is the case here – nine being by Nikčeviĉ and eight by Bulatović. Each musician plays first guitar in his own compositions and second guitar in his partner’s. The interplay of the two instruments is fluent and perfectly judged, while sounding almost spontaneous – these are, of course, the fruits of their extensive experience of playing together, experience which has included concerts at Carnegie Hall and in most parts of Europe.
Most of the compositions by the duo are colourful and evocative cameos which, while they attempt nothing of any great profundity, make pleasant and entertaining listening. Their music draws on Balkan rhythms and melodies, especially those of Montenegro, on flamenco and classical guitar, with occasional touches of the middle eastern and jazz idioms. ‘Peninsula’ offers a rich blend of Mediterranean musical traditions. ‘Tarentella baltica’ lives up to its title by blending, like a musical version of fusion cuisine, the sounds of Montenegro and Italy. In ‘Tangos’, the music takes us beyond Mare nostrum with the influence of South America, while in ‘Bulerias’ the influence of flamenco (quietly present elsewhere) is foregrounded.
Amongst the compositions of Srdjan Bulatović, I found ‘South’ particularly attractive, full of the sunshine of the Mediterranean coasts, with hints of South America too, in its echoes of the tango. This piece has a sense of intense heat. ‘Sokak’ is, Bulatović tells us, “based on the traditional song from northern Montenegro, Ja prošetah Šefteli sokakom”. There is, incidentally, a fascinating account of this song, played as a bass solo by Nenad Vasilic on his CD, The Art of the Balkan Bass (Galileo Music). This version for two guitars is full of intriguing charm; to my ears it has something of both Greek and Turkish musical traditions in it. ‘Mountain’ is an up-tempo piece in a musical language which incorporates both flamenco and Arab idioms, and does so very successfully. ‘River’ is a sound-picture of a river flowing from the mountains to the coast; it sounds like the soundtrack to a very superior travelogue. I haven’t visited Montenegro, but as I listened to this piece, I found myself attaching to it mental pictures of streams and rivers in the mountains of Spain, Italy or France. I mention these few tracks as ones I liked particularly and which are indicative of the kinds of pleasure to be found on this disc.
I am slightly less enamoured of some of the pieces, like ‘Emotions’, ‘Love’ or ‘Childhood’ in which Nikčeviĉ and Bulatović write of less pictorial, more ‘abstract’ subjects. Here, their compositions ‘compete’, as it were, with a wealth of European music, whether written for the piano by Liszt, Schumann or Chopin or for the orchestra by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky or Rachmaninov. One composition which isn’t badly disadvantaged by such comparisons is Nikčeviĉ’s ‘Meditation’ – a piece which immediately grabbed my attention when I first heard it and which has continued to reward close attention on several subsequent listenings.
The sound provided by two guitars is temporarily enhanced in ‘Bulerias’ when Darko Nikčeviĉ also plays the udu – an African clay-pot percussion instrument. The conclusion of the track seems to involve four, rather than two guitars; since no other guitarists are credited, I imagine this was achieved by over-dubbing.
I like the work of this guitar duo, but I feel sure that they would widen their audience if they recorded more varied music from the existing guitar duo repertoire – say by Carulli, Mertz or Tarrega – alongside their own compositions.
As it is, this CD, full of undemandingly pleasant music, will certainly find its way back into my CD player when the mood is right.
Glyn Pursglove
Contents
Darko NIKČEVIĆ (b.1971)
1.Peninsula (2017-18) [3:11]
Srdjan BULATOVIĆ (b.1972)
2.Cloud (2018) [3:15]
Darko NIKČEVIĈ
3.Tarantella balcanica (2018) [2:41]
Srdjan BULATOVIĆ
4.Bridge (2017-18) [3:15]
Darko NIKČEVIĈ
5.Emotions (2018) [3:42]
Srdjan BULATOVIĆ
6.Mountain (2018) [4:02]
Darko NIKČEVIĈ
7.Mara (2018) [3:09]
Srdjan BULATOVIĆ
8.Alka (2018) [3:55]
Darko NIKČEVIĈ
9.Bulerķas (1993) [3:54]
Srdjan BULATOVIĆ
10.River (2017) [3:48]
Darko NIKČEVIĈ
11.Meditation (2019) [4:00]
Srdjan BULATOVIĆ
12.South (2017) [2:57]
Darko NIKČEVIĈ
13.Dreams (2012) [3:34]
Srdjan BULATOVIĆ
14.Sokak (2018) [4:21]
Darko NIKČEVIĈ
15.Tangos (2003) [4:08]
Srdjan BULATOVIĆ
16. Childhood (2018) [3:24]
Darko NIKČEVIĈ
17.Love (2013) [3:24]
