Classical Review: STL concert debut for guitarist Adam Levin

For its third concert of the 2023-2024 season this past Saturday night (December 2, 2023), St. Louis Classical Guitar featured Adam Levin, in his first appearance as part of their “Guitar Masters” series, at the 560 Music Center in the Pillsbury Theatre.  Mr. Levin brought with him a program of 6 works that refreshingly walked off the beaten path, in several of its choices, with two contemporary works in the mix.

As a prelude, the evening began with a performance by an ensemble of about a dozen students from the Berkeley Elementary / Berkeley Intermediate School guitar club, under the direction of Berkeley teacher Rose Fischer, joined by (presumably club) director Sam Jennings.  The five selections sounded perhaps more in the realm of chordal progressions, including some vocalise from the kids, and Mr. Jennings adding some riffs reminiscent of the classic James Bond theme in the second selection.  This was part of St. Louis Classical Guitar’s educational outreach work, and a very worthy showcase for the Berkeley students.

Mr. Levin then started his program with the very sprightly “Danza Paraguaya” (“Paraguayan Dance”) by Agustín Barrios (a.k.a. Agustín Barrios-Mangoré, 1885-1944).  The second selection was very different, Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Lute Suite” in E, BWV 1006a, an arrangement of his Partita No. 3 for solo violin, BWV 1006.  For those who know the original, it’s a shock to hear the music plucked rather than bowed.  To be honest, I much prefer the original version on violin.  Nonetheless, Mr. Levin did very nicely with the Bach.

The third work, just before intermission, was the recital’s first contemporary selection, “Trimountain”, by the Spanish composer Antón García Abril (1933-2021).  Mr. Levin spent three years in Spain on a Fulbright Scholarship, and mentioned in his spoken introduction that he commissioned this work from Abril during that time.  Abril demurred several times, but after Mr. Levin recorded an Abril work and word of that recording got to the composer, Abril ultimately composed and dedicated this work to Mr. Levin, who premiered it in 2017.  The title apparently puzzled Mr. Levin, until Abril alluded to the Boston connection of the name “Trimountain” (one such explanation, with the name “Trimount”, is available here), as Mr. Levin was a music student in Boston.  To my ear, at least, the work felt overly long and a bit diffuse, with nothing particularly “Bostonian”, “New England-ish”, or even very “Spanish” about it.  Again, however, Mr. Levin played the work very well indeed, no surprise as he inspired its creation and obviously knows it better than anyone else.

After intermission, Mr. Levin performed two movements from the 28-movement work “Platero y yo” (“Platero and I”) by the Italian composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968), inspired by the 1914 prose poem by Juan Ramón Jiménez about a donkey named Platero and his human.  The two movements were “Golondrinas” (“Swallows”) and “Los Gitanos” (“The Gypsies” [not the acceptable term now, in fairness]).  Though perhaps slightly longish themselves, I enjoyed the Castelnuovo-Tedesco selections more in comparison to the Abril.  Castelnuovo-Tedesco also used comparatively fewer (though still many) notes to greater effect.  

The next selection brought the program’s second contemporary work, and the one selection by a living composer, the 4-movement suite “Il Sogno Delle Streghe” (“The Dream of the Witch”) by the Cuban-Spanish composer Eduardo Morales Caso (born 1969), from 2001-2002.  This was the most “modern”-sounding work on the concert, with its relatively astringent harmonies, but in the best way, as I found its sonic pungency very refreshing.  Notably, the first movement, “Ninnananna”, had a very pointillist feel about it, with a fair bit of sonic air and space around its chords and in its phrases, as opposed to constant sounds for their own sake.  Perhaps the last movement, “Streghe”, felt a tad prolonged, but the whole suite was very much worth hearing, a welcome change of pace with a new composer name at least to this writer.  Interestingly, Morales Caso was a student of Abril.

Before the final two selections, Mr. Levin paid warm and generous tribute to St. Louis Classical Guitar’s educational work, and offered to share the proceeds of his merch sales with the organization.  Throughout the concert, he graciously provided spoken introductions to each work or group of works, at times quite voluble, with a gift for telling a good story.  He closed the concert with two compositions by Joaquín Turina (1882-1949), “Fandanguillo” and “Fantasia-Sevillana”, in the more “traditional” niche of what classical guitar audiences generally expect at guitar recitals, in terms of solo guitar works with a Spanish flair.  These works made for a solid conclusion to a very well performed program from Mr. Levin.

Information on the rest of the Guitar Masters Concert Series is available at the St. Louis Classical Guitar web site.