Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Peter Oldrup, Guitar Debut

Guitarist Peter Oldrup impressed me last year (October 13 posting, to be precise) for his fine work as a member of the Duo Oldrup/Lauridsen and their recorder-guitar tandem performing contemporary classical works on the album Eyktime. See the post on my Gapplegate Classical-Modern Music Review blog at http://classicalmodernmusic.blogspot.com/2014/10/duo-oldruplauridsen-eyktime-modern.html.

He returns today in a classical guitar recital called Guitar Debut (Gateway DUOL 002). On it we get his considered and sensitive readings of Bach, Britten and some very contemporary solo guitar music from William Lovelady and Tan Tuan Hao. The varied program shows the versatility and poetic artistry of Oldrup in contrasting guises.

J.S. Bach's "Chaconne fra BMV 1004" begins the program and gives us the classicist Oldrup, with a hint of rubato and a beautiful charm. William Lovelady's "The White Stone" follows, with a quiet, lyrical reverie that allows Oldrup to bring out the lovely melodic strains and give the complimenting accompanying figures a second sound dimension through dynamics and touch. The intricate passages of melody and figurework come off with a distinctively poetic clarity.

Tan Tuao Han's "Through the Fences, The Light Falls" has dramatic dynamic timbral contrasts and an alternatingly introspective and volcanic quality that Oldrup realizes with artistic flair. This is a tour de force work with a performance that furthers the music and brings it all together majestically.

The Benjamin Britten "Nocturnal after John Dowland" has some of the melancholic feeling and the melodic brilliance of the lute master with Britten's unsurpassed mood-color writing. Peter brings out both qualities with just the right balance. It is a great version and I am glad to have it to hear over and over, but that is true of the CD from start to finish.

Peter Oldrup is a true artist. These are performances to appreciate microscopically as well as in their broad sweep. Peter gives us a detailed yet impassioned and technically astute reading of each work and brings out the core of the music. Hear this one!

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