Reviews
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 - Georg Gulyas), 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.
(John Miller and SA-CD.net)
This beautifully recorded and compellingly played concert brings the
sunshine of Spain into one's listening room and is strongly
recommended. Keep an eye (and both ears) on Gulyás; I hope that he and
Proprius will bring us many more guitar discs.
(John Miller and SA-CD.net)
Yet the most incredible of all has to be Georg Gulyás' guitar recital
[Proprius PRSACD 2030]. Don't think for a minute that it's just one
guitarist, hence who needs five loudspeakers. The holographic presence
of the guitar and the guitarist is so real that I could sit anywhere
and both were still there in the same spot. As for skeptics, nothing is
more convincing.
(David Kan Audioreviews)
Contact Georg Gulyás: georg@gulyas.se