ANTONIO DE INNOCENTIS
Orchestra Academy St Thomas
Roger Coull (conductor)
St. Peter & St. Paul Church, Salle, Norfolk, 20 June, 2009
Graham Wade
Classical Guitar Magazine
Located deep in the leafy rural lanes of Norfolk, fifteen miles north-west of Norwich, is a magnificent fifteenth century church where eminent artists frequently appear in subscription recitals performing to capacity audiences. Antonio De Innocentis of Italy was engaged for this very special concert featuring two Guitar Concertos, John Duarte's A Tudor Fancy, Op. 50, and Rodrigo's Fantasia para un gentilhombre.
A Tudor Fancy has certain similarities to Rodrigo's composition, but instead of deriving its impetus from the baroque dances of Sanz, Duarte's concerto quotes movements from Elizabethan composers, the themes being developed by way of divisions in the manner of sixteenth century music. The result, as the composer wrote, is 'an unmistakeably English flavour'. The work is in three movements, Tower Hillby Farnaby, The Fall of the Leafe (Martin Peerson), and A Gigge (John Bull).
Tudor Fancy is profoundly lyrical but such elements are integrated with a certain amount of virtuoso concerto bravura, even in the slow movement. Antonio De mnocentis, a great supporter of John Duarte's music, offered an assured and expressive interpretation. He is a scrupulous player who produces a wealth of warm sonorities but at the same time articulates every fine detail of dynamics, phrasing and colour.
In Rodrigo's Fantasia para un gentilhombre the tempos were brisk and bright, emphasising the dance-like nature of each section rather than the composer's implicit romantic nostalgia as he looked back at the seventeenth century. Thus even the Espanoleta was taken as a rhythmic dance and matched by a most energetic Fanfare de la caballeria de Ndpoles interpreted by a guitarist from Naples whose association with the city's cavalry is probably closer than that of most artists! Danza de las hachas was also dispatched with verve and wit, guitar and orchestra establishing a stimulating discourse in perfect equilibrium.
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