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