​JulianBreamGuitar.com

The Times 20 January 1997 (concert review)


"THE appearance of Michael Aspel and his Big Red Book is the sort of cheap thrill a critic scarcely dare hope for in the course of duty. But there they were, just as Julian Bream was about to break into a Villa-Lobos encore at the end of a concert to celebrate 50 years of professional life.

The guitar and the lute have been Bream's life, from his debut in Cheltenham in 1947 at the age of 13. on to tours of five continents, OBEs and CBEs: and from the most elusive Elizabethan lure-song to a Hollywood soundtrack.

A tiny cross-section of that life was glimpsed in Thursday's concert, as the varying relationships of different composers with the guitar were sampled. Those who wrote specifically for the instrument were represented by Robert de Visee, a musician at the court of Louis XIV, Takemitsu and Walton. The teasing ornamentation of the Baroque master warmed the fingers nicely for Bream's own new transcription of Bach's Cello Suite No 3 in C major.

The two Bourrtes provided a daunting handful of notes for an instrument lacking both the resonance and the sustaining power of the cello, but Bream's unbroken legato and subtle playing over the rose made it seem effortless. Takemitsu's In the Woods, a suite of three pieces, was as highly distilled as Walton's Five Bagatelles were flamboyant. Neither Granados's Danzas Españolas nor Bartok's Petite Suite was written for the guitar. While the Bartok, Bream's transcription of six pieces from the 44 Duos for two violins, seemed stiff-jointed, the Granados was an intriguing reincarnation of music originally intended to evoke the guitar through the voice of the piano.

Bream now seemed indefatigable. If Aspel's limo had not been waiting, the party might well have gone on all night."

Hilary Finch

West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser,

Dec 15, 1994, p. 13

Bream Concert: It's a sell-out

Newspaper Articles 1990 - 1999