Guitarist highlights
fine Indian Hill Symphony
GROTON – Guitarist Berit
Strong performing Joaquin Rodrigo’s Concierto
de Aranjuez for Guitar and Orchestra was quite definitely
the high point of the Indian Hill Symphony Orchestra concert
Jan. 30 played before a full house at Groton-Dunstable
Performing Arts Center.
The combination of Ms. Strong’s artistry on the
guitar and Rodrigo’s composition was irresistible.
The performance was a pleasure to watch and to hear, her
playing sure and melodious, indeed creating that “ringing”
quality of guitar tones that IHSO Conductor Bruce Hangen
spoke of in his introductory talk prior to the concert.
The performance of chords and individual notes, entrances
and releases was done with artistry and grace. And the
high point of the concerto’s performance was that
beautiful middle movement – the one which easily
makes this the most popular guitar concerto of all, as
Hangen noted. Here was a perfect blend of solo and orchestra
with the melodic line first sounded by the horn, then
taken up by the guitar – after the guitar plays
what could be termed a rhythmic foreground.
The opening movement involved the guitar in a sort of
conversation with several individual instruments in the
orchestra. Ms. Strong played masterfully the demanding
third movement, bringing out distinctly the range of notes.
By C. David Gordon, Minuteman
Publication
Imaginative, bountiful
‘Guitar Feast’
Last night’s “Guitar Feast”
in Jordan Hall must be the most elaborate guitar event
ever staged in Boston, unless there’s been a guitar
convention here. It was also a musical occasion on a level
of interest and artistry competitive with some of the
best mainstream concerts of the season.
None of the pieces on the all-American new-music program
was dull, and at least four of them were outstanding...
Joan Tower’s “Clocks” is strongly imagined,
vigorously composed. The piece is full of interacting
circular mechanisms, ticking as they whirl; it also seemed
an allegory about life regulated but not dominated by
time. Berit Strong was a colorful and commanding interpreter.
Richard Dyer, The Boston Globe
