Guitare Alla Grande Ottawa Canada, February 13-16, 2014 Heather Morand Clark hmorandclark@rogers The ninth instalment of the Guitare Alla Grande Festival, hosted by the University of Ottawa, Conservatoire de Musique de Gatineau, and the Ottawa Guitar Society, featured the Eden-Stell Duo from the UK as the headline performers, as well as a number of Canadian artists and many very talented students. During one of the coldest and longest winters in recent memory, this was a welcome way to spend a most enjoyable few days, and forget about the wind, snow and ice outside. The festival began with the annual showcase of new music published by festival sponsor Les Productions d’Oz, performed by students of the participating institutions. Music by Leo Brouwer, festival director Patrick Roux, Sergio Assad, Annette Kruisbrink, and Nathan Bredeson made for a varied and interesting evening of music. Friday’s master classes with Mark Eden and Chris Stell were another showcase of student talent, with solo, duo, and quartet performances. Both Mark and Chris were once again highly impressed with the level of performance of all of the students. At the end of one student’s lesson, Chris asked how old he was. He was clearly astonished when the answer was only sixteen, and simply applauded. Chris talked about the importance of following the melody line to the end of the phrase, and marking the phrases on the score. He suggested experimenting with touch to subtly change the sound, and in one chord section suggested a ‘triple whammy rest stroke’ with the i-finger playing rest stroke across the first three strings at once. The Fandango Quartet of Julian Geisterfer, Tobie-Eloi Hinse-Pare, Roberto Martinez-Lissow and Simon Rivet once again impressed Mark with their performance of Uarekena by Sergio Assad, such that there were few suggestions for improvement to be made! Both Mark and Chris remembered this group of young players from their previous visit to Alla Grande in 2009, and were glad to see they are still playing together and that they are even better than five years ago. This group has recently been awarded a grant from Jeunesses Musicales Canada, and will be performing several concerts in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes during the 2014-15 concert season. Friday evening’s concert was a collaboration with Ottawa’s Thirteen Strings Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Kevin Mallon. The inclusion of orchestral music is a refreshing departure from the norm at most guitar festivals. The programme included two world premieres, with the composers in attendance. We began with an orchestral work, Sinfonia in G, Op.2 No.5 by the 18th century composer Franz Ignaz Beck, followed by Lacus, a three movement work by Ottawa composer Christine Donkin, which evoked three lakes found on the surface of the Moon. Lacus involved the Thirteen Strings and the Junior Thirteen Strings, as well as a Junior Guitar Orchestra. The work was energetic and fun, and well received by the audience. A smaller group of Flamenco guitarists then joined the orchestra to perform 20th century composer Aldemaro Romero’s Fuga con Pajadillo from Suite for Strings No.1. The second half of the programme began with Patrick Roux’s lively Concierto Tradicinuevo, performed by the original chamber orchestra along with the Canadian Guitar Quartet. Mozart’s Divertimento in D major, K.136 followed, and then another premiere, La Madelaine du Saint-Laurent by Louis Trepanier with the Canadian Guitar Quartet once again joining the chamber group. This final work was inspired by the folk song medley ‘Hoedown’, which features well known American tunes. Trepanier introduced the piece by saying that although Hoedown is a hugely popular piece in North America, it is less well received in other parts of the world where these songs are not part of the fabric of their society and culture. He started thinking that there ought to be similar medleys relevant to the audience in any country, and of course began with Canada. The resulting concerto for four guitars and orchestra included songs such as She’s like the Swallow, Allouette, Un Canadien Errant, The Huron Carol, I’s the b’y, and Maple Leaf Forever, among many others. Louis states that twenty-three Canadian songs are quoted in this work which was both touching and uplifting. What a great way to end a terrific evening. La Tour Baroque Duo, consisting of Michel Cardin, theorbo, and Tim Blackmore, recorder, presented a lecture concert on Saturday afternoon. This New Brunswick based duo get their name from Charles St-Étienne de la Tour, a Lieutenant-General in the French colony of Acadie in the 17th Century. They talked about the history of this music as it related to Louisbourg and the French Baroque, and explained how the music had to be interpreted by the performer, not played strictly as written on the page. Afterwards several students tried out the enormous theorbo, which was incredibly light, not what one might expect given its size. Another tradition at the Alla Grande Festival is the ‘Welcome Back’ concert by a former student at one of the participating schools. This year it was John Testar, who completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Ottawa, and then went on to study at the University of Toronto. John’s performance was exquisite, including works by Granados, Turina, Fernando Sor, and Tansmann. It was obvious that Patrick Roux was proud and thrilled to see his former student back in Ottawa, having further developed his skills and playing so beautifully. The headline concert Saturday night with the Eden Stell Duo was presented jointly with the Ottawa Guitar society. The programme began with music from the 17th and early 18th centuries by Francois Couperin and Jean-Philippe Rameau, and then for a complete contrast, When Buds are Breaking by the young Swedish composer Johannes Möller, written for the Duo. The second half began with Jobiniana No. 1 by Sergio Assad. Tango Suite by Piazzolla followed, then Mompou, and the evening ended with both Mark and Chris playing on one guitar for the encore! Sunday continued with a luthier fair where there was plenty of opportunity to try out beautiful hand-made guitars by luthiers such as Sergei and Joshia de Yonge, Bruno Boutin, Jean Rompre, and many more. And on to the final concert. The students performed in duo, trio, quartets, and an octet before the Alla Grande guitar orchestras. First the guitar ensemble from Montreal’s Marguerite-de-Lajemmerais high school, consisting of about 45 high school girls under the direction of David Gaudreau. They performed works by J.S. Bach, Gabriel Fauré, Manuel de Falla and Denis Gougeon. The Alla Grande orchestra, under the direction of Denis Poliquin, finished off the proceedings, performing Dvořák`s Slavonic Dance no.7 and Trois Movements Dynamiques by Olivier Bensa. Another successful and enjoyable festival finished, and time to start planning the next. This is already well underway for 2015, and in fact plans for the 2016 edition have already begun. For the 2015 Festival, which will be the tenth, the special guest will be David Russell. David has not played in Ottawa for many years, and his visit is much anticipated! It is wonderful to know that this great little festival will keep providing such important and valuable experiences for these talented, committed and hard-working students.
Posted on: Wed, 04 Jun 2014 02:34:57 +0000
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