The ongoing Naxos Laureate Series has provided, in its guitar
discs (often featuring prizewinners from the Guitar Foundation of America
Competition) some compelling listening. Many of the discs have been "must
buys" for anyone at all interested in the classical guitar but Antigoni
Goni's disc of Domeniconi's Koyunbaba and Mompou's Suite Compostellana
and her John Duarte collection (the English Suite is superb!) take
some beating. In this instance, the young Belgian, Johan Fostier comes
very close!
One gratifying aspect of this series is its refusal
to conform to stereotypical repertoire, so even when major Spanish or,
in this case, "Spanish-derived" items are included, they are complemented
by something a little more unusual. There is absolutely nothing to dislike
in Fostier's performance of the Ponce, and it holds up well against
existing versions, even by the likes of John Williams. However, the
main interest here, to this listener, was the inclusion of two works
by the Italian composer Castelnuovo-Tedesco who later emigrated to the
US and whose neo-classical first guitar concerto is an absolute must
for lovers of the modern guitar. They are both highly listenable - the
first, based on the travels of the poet Jiménez and his donkey
Platero, was originally performed with a text recitation from the poetry
but stands up well as music in itself; it is by and large ruminative,
meditative and sometimes languid but never less than charming and often
folk-like without a particularly Spanish flavour (the closing few bars
of The Canary Flies would sound equally well on a Viennese zither!).
The homage to fellow Italian Paganini is a good deal more subtle than
much of the music of its dedicatee and its mood often looks forward
to the guitar concerto of four years later. The feeling of the piece
is not always that far removed from the music of the aforementioned
contemporary and compatriot Domeniconi - reflective, Mediterranean I
suppose, but subtly different from most equivalent Spanish works; "classical
restraint" is a descriptive cliché that actually might apply
here. Whatever, those expecting pyrotechnics and a "rhapsody" type tribute
will be disappointed. I was happy to be immersed in some glorious if
introverted music.
The little known Asencio is a slightly different kettle
of fish - a Spanish "modernist" looking westwards towards Buenos Aires
and north to France for inspiration. The dedicatees of his three homages
(the Lorca tango excepted, perhaps, for the literary minded) are probably
as difficult to identify from the music, as is the Paganini in Castenuovo-Tedesco's
piece, but the works are effective miniatures and no doubt add an extra
worth to the disc (much greater I would imagine for guitar completists).
As always, Norbert Kraft and Bonnie Silver have engineered
and produced a superb recording, so I have no hesitation in recommending
this wholeheartedly to anyone who is remotely interested in the contemporary
guitar. A great antidote to stress - you may care to listen to minimalism
on the motorway but put this on when you get home and unwind!
Neil Horner
Johan Fostier, guitar