The Edge, Federation Square
September 6, 2018

Swiss guitarist Christoph Denoth has a reputation for his rich sound and depth of musical expression. His recent resume is impressive: appearances at the BBC Proms, Carnegie Hall, the Berliner Philharmonie, a high-quality selection of recordings with Sigmum Classics, the Salzburg Mozarteum, the Wigmore Hall, and on BBC Radio3, and performances alongside the English Chamber Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, Nouvel Ensemble Contemporain, the Offenburger Streichtrio, and the Sacconi String Quartet. This year, in an Australian debut, he added the dynamic Melbourne Chamber Orchestra to this list, although ill health took away from what promised to be an exciting evening of Spanish music at the Deakin Edge auditorium at Federation Square, Melbourne.

The program consisted of a fascinating array of works for solo guitar, string orchestra, and the ever-popular Rodrigo Concierto de Aranjuez, which called for an extended chamber orchestra. There isn’t a great deal of chamber music from Spain, and thus Professor Denoth brought his skills as an arranger to Catalan pianist and composer Joaquín Malats’ Serenata Española, while the seemingly ubiquitous Nicholas Buc contributed arrangements of Issac Albéniz’s piano suite, España,and selections from Enrique Granados’ twelve Danzas Españolas. The core was a...