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Georg Gulyás plays Bach

Georg Gulyás plays Bach

Proprius  PRSACD2041

Stereo/Multichannel Hybrid

Classical - Instrumental


Bach: Chaconne BWV I004, Suite in E minor BWV 996, Suite in A minor (B minor) BWV 997

Georg Gulyás (guitar)

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Review by John Miller - January 21, 2008

Georg Gulyás is making a well-deserved international reputation as a solo guitarist. Having greatly enjoyed his previous Spanish recital for Proprius (Albeniz, Ponce, Tarrega - Gulyás), I was looking forward to see what he would make of JS Bach.

In the accompanying booklet, Gulyás expresses his admiration for the great Bach, and outlines the music he has chosen to play. Bach, of course, was a the great arch-Transcriber himself, so Gulyás plunged in and made his own transcription of the great Chaconne from the solo Violin Partita BWV 1004. This trancendental piece has already been re-vamped for many other instruments, so jealous are the ranks of non-violinists. In about a quarter of an hour it manages to compress what seems to be a lifetime's experience and emotion within its formal Theme and Variations structure.

The Chaconne makes a spell-binding opening to the recital. Gulyás sits at the ideal distance before us in the silent space of Lycke Church, NW of Karlstad. He uses a responsive, rich-toned and very versatile guitar made by Per Hallgren. Its sound is reproduced in demonstration-quality 5.0 multichannel by Producer and Engineer Torbjörn Samuelsson. There are few whistles and squeaks in Gulyás' playing, and like his high notes they expand into the church acoustic, which responds immediately, giving our ears and brain clues about the size and nature of the recording space. One can hear the beautiful resonance of the guitar for several seconds after the last note dies. This is what high-resolution (even PCM!) sound is all about.

Gulyás plays this amazing piece from a still, calm centre of great strength. It seems to flow seamlessly from variation to variation, richly expressive and certainly comes from the heart. He has great rhythmic control which is finely nuanced, and the virtuoso passages run fluidly from his fingers. I particularly enjoyed his great dynamic range, with very soft passages retaining depth of tone, and fortissimos which never seemed forced.

The other two pieces on the disc are from Bach's so-called 'Lute Suites', although in the absence of autographs it is really unknown what instrument they were written for. It used to be thought that they were written for Sylvius Leopold Weiss, a famous lutenist who visited Bach, but there is no proof of this. Gulyás points out that the pieces are uncomfortable to play on the lute, and more likely were written for a hybrid keyboard instrument which sounded like a lute - the Lautenclavicymbal, which we know Bach possessed and enjoyed playing. Again Gulyás has made his own transcriptions of the Suite in E minor BWV 996 and also the Suite in C minor BWV 997, which he has transposed down to B minor as he feels this better suits the guitar's sonority. His playing of these suites possesses the qualities I have mentioned above. Many of the dance movements are made to carry some of Bach's most earnest and pensive stream-of-conciousness utterences, yet others are lighter and more strictly rhythmic. Gulyás is fully alive to their whims, and gives them the eloquence they demand, finishing with a joyful running-figure Double.

This is a disc to play often: well-prepared and played, with demonstration quality sound. Both Bach lovers and guitar aficionados should try to hear it.

Copyright © 2008 John Miller and HRAudio.net

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