MINNEAPOLIS GUITAR QUARTET
When a pianist is playing in lieu of an orchestra, as in a transcription of a concerto or aria, a flutist or soprano may be able to get away with being somewhat dictatorial; but generally in lieder and other collaborative efforts intended for two voices cooperation is necessary. Performing in an orchestra or chorus is in some ways the most difficult sort of ensemble work–one must bow or breathe with the horde and the conductor’s instructions, regardless of one’s prejudices in terms of tempi and rendition. Yet it can also be the easiest, since the individual is absolved of the necessity to provide an interpretation.
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The program opened with a transcription of a sonata by Arcangelo Corelli, brief but beautiful in form and elegantly played. This was followed by a pair of works premiered by the quartet. Leslie Bassett’s Narratives is virtuosic–percussive effects here, lots of tremolo there, ringing all the changes that four very talented guitarists can produce–but ultimately it’s a rather pointless and unsatisfying work: five predictable movements that seemingly set out to demonstrate all the sounds the ensemble can generate and not much more. The second was the much more interesting Voices From the Garden by David Kechley, five unbroken movements into which everything from new-age sounds to Japanese elements to jazz had been stirred to largely happy effect. (The first section is entitled “Grooves,” evoking some rather unfortunate images of the 70s, but the music overcomes them.)
