18 Temmuz 2014 Cuma
16 Temmuz 2014 Çarşamba
Review by Bob Hansmann
"On Saturday night I was fortunate to catch Ana Vidovic's 10:00 PM
recital at The Monkey, on 26th st. in NYC, run by Dominic Frasca. "All
the promise of a moonlit night and a dry martini...". This line, stolen
from the movie "Moonstruck", seems perfect as a starter to my thoughts
on the very special performer that Miss Vidovic is always showing
herself to be, last Saturday night included.
Beginning her program with Sor's "Variations on a theme from Mozart"
("The Magic Flute"), Miss Vidovic displayed flawless technique
throughout. Her sound was powerful, and her interpretation was anything
but timid. She had more than enough control of the fast passages, and
handled them with ease, both with her powerful left hand, and most
interesting right hand.
Moving on to Barrios's "La Catedral" proved to be equally successful.
Her ability to open up with both of these works "cold" shows her to be a
most capable guitarist. It was expressive and dynamically interesting,
and her harmonics were gorgeous.
The "Sonatina" (Federico-Moreno Torroba) appears to be one of Miss
Vidovic's trademark works, or at least to my experiences of hearing her
play; and that's fine with me, it being one of my all time favorites. In
her hands it came to life!
Paganini's "Grand Sonata" is, perhaps more than anything else, a display
of virtuosity; or at least that's always been my feeling. Ana showed
decisively that she was able to show that side of herself (as if she
hadn't already in her earlier selections!), and her command of the work
was solid, powerful, and more than enough to handle the task.
Stanley Myers' "Cavatina", used in the movie "The Deerhunter" and made
famous by John Williams, is a delightful smaller piece that I never paid
much attention to, though I have to admit that after hearing Miss
Vidovic's interpretation I'm inclined to give it a second look.
Then came the "Sonatina Meridional" of Manuel Ponce. If she intended for
it to be the show stopper, then she was exactly correct. Wonderfully
balanced, and in total control, Ana made this work her own. Her
interpretation, again, a little more straightforward than I'm used to,
was refreshing in its head-on and oh, so musical approach.
For encores, Miss Vidovic played the Villa Lobos "Etude #7" and
"Recuerdos de la Alhambra". Both were exquisite. The Villa Lobos Etude
is just so strong a piece, and Ana took no prisoners here. It
communicated with both virtuosity and nuance, and her right hand was
brilliant. Her chosen tempo was perfect in my opinion. "Recuerdos..."
was perfect. She had absolutely no trouble producing a flawless,
dynamically controlled, and perfectly even tremolo.
A lot has been said about Ana Vidovic's looks, and I'm not going to go
into that here at all, except to say that she is a stunning young woman,
and carries herself well. She has great stage presence, and comes
across as friendly, unassuming, charming, and warm. One thing of note
was that she was using a footstool, wearing full "stiletto" heels! Most
women can't even walk in them - she played in them!
I wish for Ana Vidovic all the success in her career as the promise I've
seen in her since I first heard of her can bring. The show I attended
was her 4th performance in two days at The Monkey - amazing!
I have only one complaint over this performance, and that's that it
ended at all. The room was full of her, and then it was over. But she
did graciously shake my hand after the recital, giving me just enough
time to say, "You're wonderful.""
Bob Hansmann, review of the performance at The Monkey club in New York
13 Temmuz 2014 Pazar
12 Temmuz 2014 Cumartesi
Review by Tom Kerstens
""The Croatian Prodigy"
It was one of those rare moments of sheer magic when Ana Vidovic walked
onto the stage for the Final of the Albert Augustine Memorial
International Guitar Competition wearing a beautiful, colourful,
traditional dress. I remember thinking how wonderful she looked and how
great it was that one so young made it to the Final of the Competition
that should really be contested by post-graduates with considerable
concert performance experience. I thought, she'll do well but that is as
far as it will go. I was wrong! Her playing was magical and I was
spell-bound for at least five minutes, when I started smiling to myself
in disbelief. I looked at Rose Augustine, who was sitting next to me,
and saw the same look of amazement on her face. We realized that we were
witnessing a historical moment: this little girl was going to be one of
the biggest names in the guitar in the years to come. When we looked
over to the jury, we saw that , they too, were experiencing the same
spell: no one made any notes, they were hanging breathlessly on every
note Ana played!
The truly exceptional thing is that the guitar is not blessed with many
prodigies, unlike the violin or piano. In fact, one has to go back to
the 30's, to the incomparable Ida Presti to find a similar talent. For
me the most gratifying aspect of Ana's talent is that she plays with
exceptional musicality. She is not - like so many guitarists -
preoccupied with flying fingers, although she has quite a phenomenal
technique."
Tom Kerstens BGS Records
11 Temmuz 2014 Cuma
10 Temmuz 2014 Perşembe
8 Temmuz 2014 Salı
7 Temmuz 2014 Pazartesi
6 Temmuz 2014 Pazar
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