Brazilian Guitar Quartet to Appear at Keene State
KEENE, NH, 01/22/02 - In Brazil they are called the Dream Team- four of the most brilliant guitarists living in that country. Including Grammy nominee Paul Galbraith, the brothers Edelton and Everton Gloeden, and Tadeu do Amaral, they are known around the world as The Brazilian Guitar Quartet, and they will make their New Hampshire debut at Keene State Colleges Redfern Arts Center on Brickyard Pond, Wednesday, Feb. 6, at 7 p.m.
Tickets for the performance are available through the Brickyard Pond box office, 603-358-2168. Prices are $17.50 for the general public, $15.50 for seniors and KSC faculty and staff, $9.50 for youth 17 and younger, and $5 for KSC students with ID.
Since their first U.S. tour in April 2000, which included a New York City début at the 92nd Street Y among appearances from coast to coast, BGQ has quickly become one of the worlds most sought-after guitar ensembles, commanding nearly-sold-out North American tours in 2000, 2001 and 2002.
BGQs program at Brickyard Pond will open with J.S. Bachs Ouverture No.3 in C. Written while Bach was working in Leipzig, it was likely composed for a regular gathering of Leipzig musicians known as the Collegium Musicum. Originally it was scaled to be performed by a chamber orchestra, with Bach himself playing harpsichord.
Bachianas Brasileiras No. 1 will follow Bachs Ouverture. Written by Heitor Villa-Lobos, one of Brazils most renowned composers, the work is a set of nine suites for various ensembles. Villa-Lobos sought to link the sound-worlds of Bach and Brazilian folk music through melody, instrumentation, and harmonic language.
After intermission, BGQ will continue with three pieces from Iberia by Isaac Albeniz, one of Spains greatest composers. Iberia, his last composition, is a set of twelve pieces for solo piano divided equally into four volumes. As in much of Albenizs music, the guitars spirit permeates the work.
BGQ will then play contemporary composer Ronaldo Mirandas Variações Sérias. Miranda, a native of Rio de Janeiro, was awarded the Carlos Gomes Prize as Brazils composer of the year in 2001. One of the two most active Brazilian composers alive today, he wrote Variações Sérias (Serious Variations, the title paying homage to Mendelssohns piece of the same name), originally composed for wind quintet.
The evening will conclude with Francisco Mignones Lundu and Congada. Mignone, the son of Italian immigrants, was born in the capital of the state of São Paulo. The lundu, a predecessor of the samba, is a direct descendant of the batuque (an African percussion rhythm). Mignones Lundu, in rondo form, harks back to the salons of 19th-century Brazil. The Congada, with its roots in Africa, has been described as a dramatic dance, a royal procession accompanied by chants, for the enthroning of a new king.
The BGQs début CD, Essência do Brasil (Delos), was chosen for Audiophile Auditions Best Recordings of 1999 list and has been showered with praise not only in the U.S. and Brazil but also in Europe. Another recent CD, Bachs Orchestral Suites, made the Best Recordings of 2000 list. Their latest release, Encantamento, features works by seven Brazilian composers.
Galbraith was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1998. His solo CDs were named Best of the Year by Gramophone Magazine, received a Four Star rating in Stereo Review, and reached the top 10 of the classical charts in Billboard. His recent CDs include Haydn sonatas, the Bach lute suites, and world folk songs.
