Sharon Isbin recital for guitar and voice

Sharon Isbin recital for guitar and voice

JACOB WARREN Festival Focus Writer

Grammy Award-winning classical guitarist Sharon Isbin has been hailed for her versatility, technique, and lyricism. Having performed in Aspen every summer since 1993, Isbin is back to perform a program of nearly all Spanish works for voice and guitar. Founder of The Juilliard School’s innovative guitar program—now in its thirtieth year, with an advanced doctoral program beginning in the fall—Sharon Isbin and creatively inspired soprano Jessica Rivera perform in the intimate acoustics of Harris Concert Hall.

Isbin’s recital on August 10 includes Britten’s Nocturnal after John Dowland and Richard Danielpour’s Of Love and Longing, with the second half featuring works by mostly Spanish composers, including Montsalvatge and Falla, as well as Rodrigo’s beloved Aranjuez, ma pensée.

Britten’s Nocturnal after John Dowland is widely regarded as one of the most influential works in the classical guitar repertoire. “It was written for Julian Bream, and it is the only solo work that Britten ever wrote for guitar,” says Isbin. The work consists of nine movements, each one progressively transforming closer to the work’s thematic inspiration, Renaissance composer John Dowland’s song, “Come, Heavy Sleep.” Isbin describes the melodic progression as imagery of death and sleep, saying that “Britten takes us to a whole other plateau, where he explores in each of the many variations different states of sleep.”

Performing with Isbin for the first time, Jessica Rivera has been praised for her “effortless precision and tonal luster,” by the San Francisco Chronicle. “The fact that she is a native Spanish speaker is perfect for the music,” says Isbin. “She sounds absolutely glorious.”

Rodrigo’s Aranjuez, ma pensée is a condensed version of the slow movement from his concerto for guitar and orchestra. When Rodrigo was in the process of writing his concerto in 1939, his wife became very ill. Isbin explains, “To console himself, every night after visiting her in the hospital, Rodrigo would sit at the piano and play that beautiful aria from the concerto, and it

may have influenced his orchestration.” Rodrigo’s wife eventually recovered, and she even wrote the lyrics for this piece. In the end, the melody reflecting Rodrigo’s suffering ultimately led to a piece of celebration. Rodrigo’s daughter personally gave Isbin the score and asked that she be the first to record it. “I had the honor and pleasure of meeting them at their home in Madrid in 1979 and that was the beginning of a twenty-year friendship,” she says. The melody is low for a soprano, and Isbin will be joined by Brinton Smith on cello.

The recital also features Richard Danielpour’s Of Love and Longing, originally written for Isbin and Isabel Leonard for their sold-out recital at Carnegie Hall. The cycle of three songs, set to text by prolific thirteenthcentury poet Rumi, revolves around three main ideas of love, birth, and death. Isbin says, “This is Richard’s first work for the guitar, and he likens our collaboration as me teaching him how to write for the guitar.” Isbin’s upcoming CD, due out in a couple of weeks, is produced with frequent collaborator and Aspen favorite, Pacifica Quartet.