Eclectic line-up gives 2014 Festival a dazzling opening night.

Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide Festival Centre

July 17, 2014

In some ways, up-and-coming French classical guitar wizard Judicaël Perroy and the legendary Argentinian tango-meister Máximo Pujol might seem chalk and cheese. However, as last night’s opening concert of the 2014 Adelaide International Guitar Festival proved, the two went together like a slice of mature Sardo (that’s an Argentinian cheese in case you were wondering) and a glass of Beaujolais nouveau.

Perroy, a diminutive figure with a mop of curls, practically melds with his instrument (in this case a borrowed guitar following an unspecified air-transport issue) and the results spoke for themselves. Opening with the demanding Fantasia Op 19 by Luigi Legnani, Perroy tossed off the rapid figurations with great panache whilst demonstrating a control of light and shade that was such an impressive part of his playing throughout the evening. The work throws up a series of arias, links and cadenzas that highlighted Perroy’s elegant control of ritardandi and his firm, yet thrilling technique.

Bach’s second Lute Suite drew an appropriately cooler response, the left hand roaming over the fretboard like a stately crab. The Fugue was a model of chaste decorum before a...