Yes, he is an absolute master, and I am in awe of him as well. He has the way of getting to the point, in a most insightful manner.
ed At 11:52 AM 4/6/2011, Eugene C. Braig IV wrote: >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: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On > > Behalf Of Edward Mast > > Sent: Wednesday, April 06, 2011 11:42 AM > > To: [email protected] 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 Edward Martin 2817 East 2nd Street Duluth, Minnesota 55812 e-mail: [email protected] voice: (218) 728-1202 http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1660298871&ref=name http://www.myspace.com/edslute http://magnatune.com/artists/edward_martin
