Popular in their native Brazil, the Sergio and Odair Assad are world renown as consummate classical guitarists. Armed with their resonant Thomas Humphrey guitars, they are adept at transversing drastically different sorts of music from their riveting performances of the more traditional classical music to complex jazz and their native folk inspired music. They have expanded the repertoire for the guitar and their brilliant musicianship has inspired numerous contemporary composers from different genres to write for them. This night we heard new pieces by Sergio Assad performed by the duo. The first of these pieces was "Homanagem as nossas raizas." This piece was overall quite complex and evocative, with an intensity that made parts of it crackle with excitement. The second section was darker, and almost relaxing at first, leading into a feeling of suspense that seemed to captivate the audence, then led into a terse and thought provoking conclusion to this piece. Overall I found this piece to be a thrilling and masterful work.

Romero Lombobo came out to play a technically challenging trio with the Assad brothers by composer C. Carmargo Mariano, called "Curumim."  Lombobo, also playing a Thomas Humphrey guitar blended nicely. This piece gave each player a chance to shine in sections, Sergio with sonorous, rich harmonic work, Odair bringing in a fierce rhythmic intensity and passion, and Lombobo performing lefthanded gyrations on the neck that boggled the senses. The brothers left the stage to Lombobo, who performed an original compostion "Pr'o Flavio" that he had written for his father. This piece was expressive, yet modern, with sparkling note patterns interspersed throughout. Lombobo was then joined on the stage by the versatile Celso Machado with his Daniel Lesueur guitar to perform "Estamos ai", by D. Ferriera and M. Einhorn. This was melodic, light and breezy with some vocal scat by Machado. The first half of the program concluded  with "Samba Novo" by Baden Powell, played by the brothers, Lombobo and Machado, who also added some vical percussion. This cheery piece is marked by complex chord progressions and an almost whimsical melodic line. The ensemble was tight with great interplay.

The second half was full of fun surprises, Machado returned alone to the stage to perform his work, "Corpo," it was fascinating percussion, using his body, a Brazilian bird whistler, a Ngoni from Mali, a Rock from West Canadian Coast, a Philippino Jews harp, and even a water bottle at times. He then picked up his guitar to play his "Fantasia Brasileira." This piece was folksy to begin with a flamenco influence, there was some frenzied detuning and retuning during and towards the end gave the impression of drums and crowds during Carnivale.

Finally, Badi Assad took the stage for an imaginative improvisational work with Machado that evoked the sounds of the forests and included the audience to create the sounds of rain. Machado left the stage and Badi gave us some winsome and seductive vocal work, accompanying herself on guitar. Her brothers rejoined her and she took up a cutaway acoustic bass guitar. They performed "Baião de 5" by G. Levy with Badi providing vocal percussion. They concluded with the entire ensemble playing a medley of lesser known pieces by the force behind bossa nova, Antônio Carlos Jobim, with Badi once again providing her relaxed, warm vocals that caressed the ear.

In total it was an eye opening evening of both traditional, progressive and jazz inspired Brazilian music, well performed and aurally diverse. The Philharmonic Society brought Orange County a very different sound than we are used to hearing, and it was a rare treat.

- Reviewed by Dawn Southwick

Related link:  www.philharmonicsociety.org
 

	Feb 10  California Philharmonic
PROGRAM:  Grandjany- Aria in Classic Style. Ravel- String Quartet in F Major. Massenet- Meditation from "Thais". Elgar- Salut d'amour. Bellini- Nocturne.  Debussy- Danses sacree et profane.  Maria Casale, harp. Joel Pargman, violin. Carrie Kenedy, violin. Brett Banducci, viola. Charles Hebenstreit, viola. Timothy Loo, cello. Peter Doubrovsky, bass.   E ating, drinking and merrymaking during a classical music concert?  These things were the norm back in the 18th Century, when ‘classical music’ was just ‘music’ for popular entertainment and mass consumption.  Paintings and sketches from this period show operatic performances where the audience are freely ambulating about, vendors hawking food and trinkets, and pets running amuck.  Of course, that all changed in the late 19th-Century post-Wagnerian era, with a darkened theatre, a sunken pit and a reverential audience embodying Wagner’s highfalutin ideal of religiosity in art.  The California Philharmonic’s season-inaugural concert last Sunday was a semi-informal affair, bringing classical music back to its popular roots, and all the better for it. Billed as “Music, Martinis and the maestro” (not in that particular order, although probably more martinis were consumed that day than there were notes in the music), the event was part-concert, part-standup comedy and part infotainment.   The venue was the elegant Romanesque Room of the Green Hotel in Pasadena, where patrons sat at white linen-covered dinner tables socializing and, yes, sipping from their martini glasses.  The concert part came later.  It was preceded by an entertaining question-and-answer session with Cal Phil’s jocular music director Victor Vener, and an instructional demonstration by award-winning harpist Maria Casale (where we learned “all that glitter is not gold” and that “there are a lot more notes in a harp than a piano”).    As much fun as all this extra-musical stuff was, the music-making itself by members of Cal Phil was nothing if not serious.  Casale showed some dazzling arpeggio finger work in Bellini’s romantic Nocturne and in the richly atmospheric modal harmonies of Debussy’s Danses sacree et profane.   The easy-listening pieces (Elgar, Massenet, Grandjany) benefitted from the delightful soft filigree of Casale’s harp playing.  She was ably assisted by cellist Timothy Loo (who played with a lovely singing line in the Bellini), violinist Carrie Kenedy (in Massenet’s Thais) and bassist Peter Doubrovsky (in the Elgar).  On their own, the strings gave an enthusiastic and fluid reading of Ravel’s String Quartet. A toast to Cal Phil and maestro Vener for a fun-filled Sunday afternoon. - Reviewed by Truman C. Wang   For California Philharmonic tickets and concerto info, visit www.calphil.org or call (626) 300-8200