|
|
|
Michael Dungan, The Irish Times, August 24, 2007 (John
Field Room, National Concert Hall, So exquisite
were music and playing that the novelty of O'Toole's instrument - the
eight-string "Brahms guitar" which he plays in the cello position and with
a wooden resonating box - presented only the briefest, passing
distraction. In
printed notes, offering a rare, readable mix of insight and informal
discussion, O'Toole described how he first heard the sonata (on
harpsichord) in a drawing-room scene from the film Marie Antoniette, which was
released earlier this year. Reckoning it a gem, he transcribed
it. He was right. His
notes also outline some intriguing disagreement about his second piece, a
"Lautensuite" or literally suite for lute, by Bach. Since the
surviving manuscript is in Bach's pupil's hand, can we be sure it was
written originally for lute? Or for Lautenwerck, Bach's custom-built
harpsichord designed to imitate the lute? In his performance,
O'Toole demonstrated how in the end it didn't matter, that what was
intended for the sound of the lute would work well in
transcription. Here,
as in the Scarlatti, he magically produced distinctive colours for
different voices in contrapuntal passages, and he played the slow
sarabande, which quotes
the final chorus from the St.Matthew Passion, with deep, muted
intensity. In
Rodrigo's programmmatic Invocation
y Danza, a homage to the composer's compatriot De Falla,
O'Toole brought the narrative of an ill-fated love-triangle colourfully to
life and effected the illusion of multiple players as he single-handedly
played both dances and accompaniment. He
concluded his recital, which want a long way to selling a niche instrument
that exists within the already niche confines of the classical guitar,
with a lively, witty performance of Mauro Giuliani's Rossiniana No.1, an
affectionate mix of Rossini opera arias and variations upon
them. |