Dublin Guitar Week

THE first half of Dublin Guitar Week `95 ended with a recital of guitar trios in the John Field Room, NCH, played by the Trio Ricercare from Italy.

This group has the confidence to play from memory and there is an unusually close rapport between the players. The absence of printed scores, not to mention the music-stands, gives an illusion of the utmost naturalness and the three sets of hands seem to be directed by one brain.

The music, both baroque and contemporary, was played with refreshing suppleness and a most carefully adjusted dynamic range, from a barely audible pianissimo to a strong, but unforced forte. Vivaldi's La Primavera, for example, was most delicately nuanced and the Arc Suite, a new work by Battisti D'Amario, was full of unusual harmonies and interesting effects.

On Saturday in St. Ann's Church, John Feeley and Raymond Burley gave a recital of duets mostly from the Baroque period. The Spanish element was represented by the ubiquitous Sor - L'encouragement, Op. 34, a piece for pupil and teacher -and arrangements of six of Granados's Spanish Dances. Playing from the music, the duo did not have the freedom of the Italian Trio, but there was nevertheless an instinctive sympathy between the players. It was not enough to enliven the works by Scheidler or by Mertz, but Carulli's Duo in G, Op. 34, sparkled along, and in the Spanish Dances there was an exciting rhythmic elan

Musica Hispana: Five Centuries Of Spanish and Latin-American Music, was the title of Saturday's lunch-time recital at the John Field Room, given by Jerry Creedon (guitar), Mary Mulcahy (soprano) and Eilis O'Sullivan (flute). The three musicians joined forces in their final item, Sephardic Songs, which have survived from the 15th century among the Spanish-speaking Sephardic Jews. The arrangements by Manuel Valls tastefully supported the voice and this recreation of the past made a fitting end to a recital which began with songs of the Spanish Golden Age and included Sor's Seguidillas and Lorca's folk song arrangements. Mary Mulcahy's voice had just the right edge.