Guitar concerts with Gunter Herbig
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Gunter Herbig, one of New Zealand's foremost classical guitarists, is going to present two concerts to Auckland audiences on May 10 and 11.
Since its release in August 2007, Gunter's debut CD "Hauturu - Where the Winds Rest" has spent seven weeks in the Top Ten Radio New Zealand Concert classical chart and occupied the number one slot in the Marbecks Records classical chart. An unprecedented success for a NZ classical guitar CD, critics from around the world have praised the CD in superlative terms for his style and virtuosity. Two international CD labels, Chandos and Naxos, have expressed interest in releasing Gunter's next two CDs. Gunter Herbig, one of New Zealand's foremost classical guitarists, is going to present two concerts to Auckland audiences on May 10 and 11.
Since its release in August 2007, Gunter's debut CD "Hauturu - Where the Winds Rest" has spent seven weeks in the Top Ten Radio New Zealand Concert classical chart and occupied the number one slot in the Marbecks Records classical chart. An unprecedented success for a NZ classical guitar CD, critics from around the world have praised the CD in superlative terms for his style and virtuosity. Two international CD labels, Chandos and Naxos, have expressed interest in releasing Gunter's next two CDs.Gunter's concerts at All Saints Church in Howick and St. Matthew-in-the-City will be comprised of repertoire from two exciting new recordings soon to be released. "Prospero Dreaming", a CD with music by Douglas Lilburn and David Farquhar and "Preludes from the New World" with Music by Villa - Lobos, Leo Brouwer, Maximo Diego Pujol and Auckland composer John Elmsly are highly original and adventurous programmes with World Premiere recordings on both of them.
The concerts will include Villa - Lobos' "Cinq Preludes", often-performed guitar works and absolute classics in the modern repertoire. The wildly post-romantic and impressionist music of Villa - Lobos needs little introduction. Recent research by the Brazilian musicologist Eduardo Meirinho has brought to light earlier manuscript versions of the Cinq Preludes which at times differ quite considerably from the published edition. It is these Gunter will be performing in the concerts. The CD recording and Auckland performances of these manuscript versions will be world premieres.
The Preludios Epigramaticos are based on excerpts from the love poems by the Spanish poet Miguel Hernandez. While known for cutting edge avant garde composition in his earlier years, in this work Leo Brouwer draws exquisite sketches of the landscapes of the heart using subtle brush strokes of tender, contemporary and yet romantic writing.
Gunter's own research into the guitar music of Douglas Lilburn's revealed some interesting new discoveries: Lilburn not only composed the "Seventeen Pieces for Guitar" but also tried his hand at arranging his own work for the guitar. Among the manuscripts Gunter studied at the Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington, he discovered a handful of hitherto unpublished guitar works. One turned out to be Lilburn's arrangement of Canzona 1 from Four Canzonas for strings, the others were pieces that he decided, for whatever reasons, not to publish. Gunter has, with the permission of the Lilburn Trust since recorded some of these unpublished pieces and has arranged the remaining 3 Canzonas for the guitar as well. He will therefore be introducing some of these unheard guitar works by New Zealand's greatest composer to our audiences for the very first time. The concerts will include the Four Canzonas, also world premiere performances. These pieces are also going to be released later this year on his CD "Prospero Dreaming": The Guitar Music of Douglas Lilburn and David Farquhar.
A special treat in the concerts will be David Farquhar's wonderful composition "Prospero Dreaming". Written in 1995, this is one of Farquhar's late works and is a rich and wondrous canvas upon which he explores the guitar's whole register. He wrote this piece in a most romantic and approachable language and it is rarely heard. So far, it still only exists in manuscript form.
Auckland concerts
May 10, 7.30pm
All Saints Church
Corner Selwyn Rd & Cook St.
Howick
$25.00/$15.00 unwaged
Tickets at the door
May 11, 1.00pm
St. Matthew-in-the-City
187 Federal St
Auckland
$25.00/$15.00 unwaged
Tickets at the door
What the critics say about Gunter's performances and CD:
Ricardo from LaGuitare.com (France), November 2007:
"Son jeu est incroyable, comment peut on faire passer autant de force avec un instrument en bois à cordes nylon ? Bon sang c'est incroyable ce qu'il en tire, ce morceau fait reference aux vents, à ce qu'ils emportent sur leur passage, à ce qu'il reste apres eux et, Gunter parvient à nous faire entendre ce vent...
...Fabuleux, totalement et extraordinairement fabuleux."
(AHis playing is incredible, how can you communicate such power with an instrument just made of wood and nylon strings? My goodness, it is incredible how he pulls them (the strings); this piece makes reference to the wind, how it makes its passage and comes to rest and Gunter manages to make us hear this wind...
...Fabulous, totally and extraordinarily fabulous.@)
For the whole review please go to the link:
http://www.laguitare.com/cd_album/gunter_herbig_nov2007.html
David Leisner, Professor for Guitar, Manhattan School of Music - New York, September 2007:
"It's a fascinating recording - Gunter Herbig is his own man. He interprets Bach and, particularly, Villa-Lobos unlike anyone else you've ever heard; originality is something I prize highly and I liked the Villa-Lobos especially for its independence of thinking and for the beauty of sound." (Jack Body), April 2007:
"I was excited by the Lilburn pieces - none of the previous performances (or recordings) I've heard have had as much life and musicality as your version. Terrific!"
(Hans Hofer, Coburger Tageblatt), January 2006:
"...an absolute master of his metier - performed with dreamlike secure virtuosity - from breathed harmonics to fully realized orchestral flights of an entirely explored dynamic scale - "
William Dart, New Zealand Herald, December 2007:
"It is not difficult to be won over by Gunter Herbig's Hauturu: Where the Winds Rest. On the booklet is a classy Laurence Aberhart image, on the disc solo guitar music by Bach, Villa Lobos and Rimmer; this is one classy release with an ECM look and sound to it.
Guitar aficionados will appreciate Villa Lobos' Twelve Etudes where Herbig goes back to the composer's original manuscript, with meltingly beautiful results."
08/05/08