Francisco Bernier resorted to several effective guitar techniques during the Bir Miftuħ recital.

Recital
Francisco Bernier, guitar
Santa Marija Chapel, Bir Miftuħ

Music from Brazil and Paraguay was performed during the opening concert of the Bir Miftuħ Music Festival but it was Spanish music which dominated this classical guitar recital. It was a successful one-man show with the young-ish but formidable Sevillan Francisco Bernier.

A great communicative gift, a huge measure of outstanding musical artistry, technique of a true maestro which commanded constant attention from a nigh rapt audience made this a very special event. Special too was the additional significance that, for the first time, Din l-Art Ħelwa had the support of a private family trust as co-sponsors. Mary Rose and Roderick Chalmers set up the ARDC Trust in memory of their late son Alistair who had a profound interest in Hispanic/Iberian culture.

Chronologically, Bernier’s programme ranged from Ferdando Sors (1778-1839) to Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959). The genres and styles were different, technique and insight employed were very diverse, contrasts sharp but all were tackled with the same (deceptive) ease and clarity.

Nothing is more difficult than the apparently easy. The ability to change track while retaining the same basic thematic material was well-displayed in Sors’s Introduction and Variations on a Theme by Mozart, Op. 9, based on Papa-geno’s magic bells song in Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute).

Moods here changed swiftly but it was the opposite in the Prelude No. 1 in E minor by Villa-Lobos, which is more compact, rather highly charged and flowing with a singularity of purpose. Bernier’s sensitivity continued in the two Isaac Albéniz pieces which were in perfect, very well-etched contrast. Mallorca Op. 22 came across as a charming and gently lilting barcarole redolent with heady Mediterranean flavour. On the other hand, Sevilla: Suite Española, Op. 47 No. 3, moved at a different pace, lively and exciting and as only a native Sevillano could play it.

The long hush which sounded like an eternity at the end of Paraguayan composer Agustín Barrios Mangioré’s Un Sueño en la Floresta, proved that the intrinsic magic of this piece had really worked and left all enchanted with it.

Later, when talking about it with friends, it seemed as if by general consensus that this was one of the evening’s highlights if not the one! That is, without diminishing any of the splendour of the other pieces.

Mangioré’s Sylvan Reverie reached a peak of finesse and evocation with its music screaming out aloud for somebody to choreograph it. Bernier himself agreed with that later. It is so beautiful that it had many, if not all, present mesmerised by it.

However, Bernier had more to give to the audience with three works by Francisco Tárrega. The first was Fantasia on Themes from La Traviata. The three themes were the main one from the prelude to Act I and later at the base of Violetta’s heart-rending Amami Alfredo!

The second was the deeply poignant Addio del Passato, while the last was the energetic conclusion of Violetta’s great scene concluding Act I. This made sound musical sense for the piece’s structure. Completely different and employing throughout the tremolo technique was the highly evocative Recuerdos de la Alhambra.

Concluding, Bernier performed the Gran Jota de Concierto. In this show-stopper, the performer resorted to several difficult but effective technical devices like plucking the strings at different points of the sound board, or tapping with the right hand below the strings while plucking the strings with the left hand. As in some of the previous works, there were moments which made one guitar sound as if there were two.

At the end of this work, enthusiasm was great such that an encore was inevitable. In contrast to Tárrega’s Gran Jota, the piece chosen was Leo Brouwer’s reflective Un Dia de Noviembre.

• The recital was also supported by the Embassy of Spain.

Agnès Pyka. Right: Sébastien Hurtaud.

The festival continues...

The second Bir Miftuħ concert is being held on Saturday at 8pm. Agnès Pyka on violin and Sébastien Hurtaud on violoncello will perform works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Maurice Ravel, Reinhold Glière and George Frederick Handel. This concert is sponsored by the Embassy of France and the Alliance Française de Malte – Méditerranée.

Tickets may be obtained from Din l-Art Ħelwa, 133, Melita Street, Valletta. For more information call 2122 5952 or e-mail: info@dinlarthelwa.org.