PORRAS :Sobre un Canto de Pilon ; VITORES: Toccata y Canzone ; ABAD : Continuidad y Deformacion ; Pasillo de Propuesta ; VIGNES : 6x1 en 6 ; CHICAYBAN : Grande Sertao ; SANTORSOLA : Guitar Sonata No3
Antonio Amodeo
Chromart Classics : INTL 11/18
Italian guitarist Amodeo has here produced a set of pieces by contemporary Latin American composers, all apart from one I must confess to never having heard anything of before. The first track, nearly 9 minutes in length is Simon Rodriguez Porras’s Sobre un Canto de Pilon. Immediately the music is almost keyless, and definitely just a shade away from atonal. It has a number of different sections that are quite contrasting from each other. The sound is sometimes almost ethereal in its quieter moments, and then in between it suddenly gains speed and the notes become very fast and furious.
Jose Vitores’ Toccata y Canzone starts almost with a motto underneath its very fast opening. The playing is superb, and the recording very clear, and the music again, very mysterious and strangely quiet at times, but then gets very loud and full of strums interwoven with angry interjections. The opening idea then returns and that brings the piece to a sudden close.
Eduardo Flores Abad is the only composer with more than one piece on this recording, and the next two are his, firstly the title piece from the CD. This opens up with various note bends and some unusual percussive sounds, which to be fair just goes on and on for the entire six minutes, which for a piece that is the title track, doesn’t make for very interesting listening, not for me anyway! His other piece Pasillo de Propuesta has more actual music, but consists of seemingly random solo notes, interwoven with rhythmic sections that yet again are atonal in all but name , and although played really well, leave a lot to be desired musically speaking, as I cannot see people putting this CD on and listening to it for enjoyment!
Mario Gomez Vignes’ 6x1 en 6 beings like Abad’s first piece with percussive noises, followed by creepy solo lines, in between furiously fast arpeggio lines without an obvious key.
Alberto Chicayban’s Grande Sertao yet again begins with note bends on some single notes, and percussive tambora chords, before what is perhaps, so far, the most melodic piece with some chords that did seem to be part of a key structure continuing from there, making this the first piece that I personally would actually consider listening to for enjoyment.
The final piece is Guido Santorsola’s 4-movement Sonata No3, and was the only composer whose music I have previously played or heard. Its 4 movements are Amabile, Scherzo, Lento, and a Finale, and is 20 minutes well spent, with some interesting music, without it being too far – out.
As you can probably guess by now, I have a very short fuse with pieces that just go crash, bang, wallop, without any obvious key, or structure, or enjoyment vale, and unfortunately, this album’s first five pieces, were exactly that .Amodeo is obviously a really fine performer, but I cannot see lots of listeners buying this CD for fun.
Chris Dumigan
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