Andy’s topping the leaderboard for Devizes Arts Festival reviews; if I pull my socks up and attend a lunchtime recital at least I’ve chalked my name on it. Classical guitar at St Andrews Church, how bad could it be? Just a handful of tea drinkers coughing over some amateur strumming?! I should know the Devizes Arts Festival better than that by now……
What I, and a full house got was precisely the opposite. London-based Portuguese classical guitar and lutenist scholar and tutor, Fábio Fernandes is a virtuoso. He came to Devizes to educate as well as entertain, and he did both delightfully.
His penultimate of seven was by Frank Ridge, and the finale, a sunny-side-of-the-street piece, one of many his fellow classical guitar enthusiast David Russell wrote for him for the album he was promoting. But, like Doctor Who with an acoustic guitar, both of these contemporary compositions were inspired by the centuries of English guitar music we had joyfully trekked through in the past hour, to which Fábio held the crowd spellbound.
Coming clean, what I know about English Baroque composers can be written on the back of a matchbox, but if I attend lots of gigs where the guitar is a given, thanks to Fábio I’m enlightened with a genre of yore which introduced our country to the instrument by Europeans. Fábio provided a medley of four 17th century Henry Purcell transcriptions as an opening, and wowed the audience with his intricate skill. From the tragic opera Dido and Aeneas, to an eloquent dance and my particular favourite section, a Shakespearean underscore called The Fairy Queen, these pieces were short, but in them you could hear the influence of everything which followed.
I found myself contemplating waltz, nineteenth century English folk dances, or twangs of bluegrass in this music, predating 1940’s Appalachia by a country mile. Even playful notes on the offbeat, which, as a reggae fanatic, shocked me, and so many experimental elements pop has caused us to take for granted now. From the romantic delicacies of 19th century salon music to the militantacy of William Walton in the following era, and onto scores by Benjamin Britten, we moved through time with the grace of the gods, and each chapter with a full and fascinating explanation.
I’m forever impressed with the quality at Devizes Arts Festival, but generally I’m nocturnal, and due to work commitments I rely on, and am grateful for, Andy and Ian to provide our feedback on daytime events. Please forgive me for so wrongly assuming during the daytime this level of quality lessens off. Quite clearly it doesn’t, and neither does the attraction or diversity on offer. Fábio Fernandes was as impressive and entertaining as something more contemporary, and being it had a little history lesson thrown in for good measure, it was inspiring too.
The Devizes Arts Festival runs until Saturday 13th June, with lots more going on.
I loved this, and was surprised I did. It was only a lunchtime recital, dammit! Someone look after my cucumber and haslet sandwiches, I’m going for more of this!
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