I do not know of Mrs. Smith's musical activities. However, I can tell you about a similar event I coordinated in Columbus, OH this past weekend. I was very pleased with the turnout for Hoppy's concert and all the support from Early Music, WOSU, the Columbus Dispatch, etc. We had attendees from as far away as Peabody in MD and Sarnia, Ontario.
Concert was Friday evening. For a pre-concert talk (expected on the Early Music series with whom we collaborated), Hoppy took Sanz's one-line tarantella and discussed in lay terms (and demonstrating on his guitar) how he elaborated the rasgueado patterns and concocted melodic figures over the notated progression to arrive at a performance piece worth hearing. I may be biased, but his was one of the most entertaining talks I've ever heard on that series. The concert itself was good: guitar music by Sanz, Guerau, and Santa Cruz. The master class he gave on Saturday afternoon was the highlight of the weekend for me. It was both insightful and a near-overwhelming display of the man's genius. We also had four performers; they played Bach on modern guitar, de Murcia and Bartolotti on 5-course guitars, and Piccinini on liuto attiorbato. There was also a piano handy in the chapel where the master class was held. To demonstrate phrasing and musical ideas, he would hop between his own (5-course guitar) and participants' instruments and piano, transposing by ear at the piano to accommodate different concert pitches and play in tune with whatever participant's instrument was on deck, realizing complex harmony on the fly. Remarkable! ...And he conveys all with an air of sincere generosity and without me perceiving any arrogance. I'm still reeling. Eugene > -----Original Message----- > From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu [mailto:lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu] On > Behalf Of Edward Mast > Sent: Wednesday, April 06, 2011 11:42 AM > To: lute@cs.dartmouth.edu Net > Subject: [LUTE] Hopkinson Smith Concert > > I had the pleasure of hearing HS give a recital last night of Spanish > music of the 17th century (on Baroque guitar). I've heard him twice > before in recitals of Renaissance lute music, but even though the lute is > the instrument I'm trying to learn to play, this guitar recital captivated > me in a way that the lute recitals didn't. Not sure why. But I came away > with a bit of envy for you baroque guitarists who have this wonderful > repertory to draw on (eg. Sanz, Guerau, Santa Cruz). > > The evening before, I attended a master class given by HS. Four > guitarists (modern) played; three played transcriptions of Bach, while the > fourth played a Kellner transcription. HS showed profound insights into > the music and worked with the players in a congenial, but musically > exacting way. > > A 'mini review', for what it's worth. I think Hopkinson Smith is one of > the more remarkable musicians in early music; a wonderful player, and a > fine pedagogue. Does anyone know if his wife is also active in the early > music field? (A recorder friend of mine thinks she may have been a teacher > at a recent workshop on early notation which she attended). > > -Ned > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
