Another Rave Review for Smaro Gregoriadou’s album “Reinventing Guitar!“:
Smaro Gregoriadou: Reinventing guitar!
Review by Claudio Bolzan
MUSICA, issue#219, September 2010
(Review translated into English from Italian)
Mastery of the executive technique and expressive sensibility are among the most obvious qualities of the Greek instrumentalist, who, in the Sonata in E major by Scarlatti, revives the brilliance of the harpsichord, distinguishing herself for the clearness of the sound, the clarity of the contrapuntal order as well as for the elegance of her approach. Whereas in the interpretation of the Suite in G minor BWV 995 by Bach (original lute transcription of the Cello Suite in C minor), she offers an extra stylistic severity, which, together with the variety of the expressive solutions, allows a satisfactory balance between “sense and sensibility”: the various added ornaments give an extra beauty to a work played with the warmth of a personal participation (as occurs, for example, in the Sarabande). With regard to the timbre research, since we do not have at our disposal precise data on the characteristics of the three different instruments used in the recording, we should limit ourselves to underline that in this scope, Gregoriadou adopts and develops with coherence the results of the research made by the inventor and scholar George Kertsopoulos, ending up to reinvent the sound-color potential of the guitar, in relation to each particular composer approached (this is where the title of the cd derives from). The medium-low range stands out in particular, through a full and refined sound that allows a considerable spectrum of dynamic and contrasted nuances, and this occurs despite the lack of a more marked global homogeneity, especially in relation to the high notes, often produced with metallic sounds. Such a tone-color research is mainly exploited in the compositions of Gregoriadou herself, the two convoluted Balkan Dances placed in the closure of the disc, as in the case of the wide and stylistically heterogeneous Sonata by Antonio José, a composition subdivided in 4 movements –Allegro moderato, Minuetto, Pavana triste, Finale- which is played with ardor and rhythmic vitality; but even more in the composition Some Color’s Rhythms by George Kertsopoulos, an authentic phantasmagoria of timbre, stretched between radiant transparencies and kaleidoscopic reflections; an uninterrupted musical flow, dense, smooth and vital.
Claudio Bolzan
Purchase Reinventing Guitar! from www.DelosMusic.com and on