Day Two: Concert Johan Fostier
The Belgian guitarist Johan Fostier hit the stage for the lunch concert of day two. He came with a broad programme, from Renaissance to contemporary Latin American.
The opener was the favourite song of the old emperor Charles V (1500 -1558), the arrangement of the chanson Mille Regretz de Vous Abandonner by Josquin Desprez, written by Luys de Narvaez (1500 - 1555) and dedicated to the emperor by means of the title Cancion del Imperador.
Johan Fostier played the piece in standard tuning, so without the third string tuned to F sharp, which makes the piece more difficult to play (I happen to be studying the piece myself at the moment, but I found it more easy with the F sharp tuning).
He convincingly played the sad and emotional mood of the piece.
The next piece was composed by a fellow-countryman of De Narvaez, namely Alonso de Mudarra (1510 - 1580). This musician had such an admiration for the harp playing of his contemporary Ludovico, that he imitated it in a Fantasia with a strikingly modern sound. Fostier exploited the musical possibilities of this piece in a great way.
His Baroque piece (the next era) was no Baroque piece at all, it was the composition of the Mexican composer Manuel Ponce (1882 - 1948). The funny thing about this piece is, that many musicologists thought that this was a newly discovered piece by Silvius Leopold Weiss, a Baroque composer indeed! Johan Fostier played the piece as a nice and strong baroque suite, with the Gavota and the Giga as the final and fast movements.
Luigi Legnani (1790 - 1877) was the representative of the classical period. He is known as the friend and musical partner of Niccolo Paganini, in the slightly sad role of a musical inferior, always playing the simple guitar parts while Paganini was involved in the virtuosity of his melodies. Considering the complexity of Legnani's own compositions, I guess this moderate role is but a story.
Johan Fostier played Fantasia Brillante Op. 19, a piece which definitely does credit to this addition "Brillante". Just consider the fact that the complete name of the piece is Fantasia brillante e facile per la chitarra sola! Far from easy, apparently! Fostier's interpretation showed tempo, virtuosity and vigour.
Vicente Asencio (1908 - 1979) represented the early Spanish modernists. Fostier played the three movement Suite Valenciana with emotion and delicately expressed the intimate atmosphere of particularly the slow movement.
After Asencio it was time for the contemporary era on stage. Fostier played four pieces: two by Quique Sinesi, one by Eduardo Martin and one by Julio Cesar Oliva. With these pieces Fostier showed his mastery of the complex virtuosity of these pieces.
The enthusiast audience succeeded in getting an encore, which sounded alike one of Scarlatti's Sonatas. In this way we were almost back at the beginning style period of this recital.
A great concert!