We conclude the Recreation season in a galant style with guitar virtuoso
Petrit Çeku
, who seduces us with Rodrigo’s dreamlike Guitar Concerto No. 2. From the conductor’s podium, Londoner
Paul Goodwin
responds with Schubert’s “Tragic Symphony.”
Content
in the footsteps of a great Spaniard
Two gentlemen of the concert world follow in the footsteps of a great Spaniard. Zagreb guitarist Petrit Çeku and London conductor Paul Goodwin perform Rodrigo’s second guitar concerto, the far too rarely performed Fantasy for a Gallant Gentleman, a romantic dream of the 17th century. Schubert’s Tragic Symphony provides a counterpoint from Viennese Romanticism.
Born in Kosovo, at home in Croatia, teacher at the Graz University of the Arts: his play on the guitar is as diverse as his life. With sensitivity and expressiveness, Petrit Çeku impresses from Boston to Bologna.
Recreation is special in many ways: consisting of musicians whose nationalities range from Japan to Venezuela, most of the members received part of their training in Graz. After its formation in 2002, the collective has played in unique halls such as the Alte Oper Frankfurt and has worked with outstanding conductors.
The Englishman surprises and impresses with his unusual concert programmes and is considered a luminary of historically informed performance. No wonder, then, that Paul Goodwin is a sought-after conductor all over the world: from the BBC Philharmonic to the National Orchestra of Taiwan – wherever he goes, success is not long in coming.
