In 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the remarkable Croatian guitarist Ana Vidovic recorded an impressive concert at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in San Francisco. The video of that performance has been viewed over 11 million times to date.
After several subsequent sold-out recitals at St. Mark’s, Vidovic appeared for the first time at Herbst Theatre on Saturday, April 12, in a concert presented by the Omni Foundation. The program ranged from Baroque masters to Agustín Barrios, a once-neglected South American musician who is now widely regarded as one of the greatest guitarist-composers of the 20th century.
Vidovic began the recital with music by J.S. Bach, first an arrangement of the Violin Partita No. 3 , BWV 1006, followed by the monumental Chaconne from the Violin Partita No. 2, BWV 1004. Bach made an arrangement of BWV 1004 that is often (though controversially) said to be for Baroque lute and is regularly played by guitarists. The great Andrés Segovia made famous his own version of the Chaconne, which he premiered in a 1935 recital in Paris.
However arranged, Bach on guitar is supremely challenging, and Vidovic brought precise technique and wonderful phrasing to her renditions. While the Prelude of the Partita No. 3 and the opening statement of the Chaconne had a harsh and overly accented sound, she ultimately relaxed into expressive interpretations.
Manuel Ponce’s Sonatina Meridional is a rich three-movement work that incorporates the styles of Spanish folk music, flamenco, and neoclassicism. In the first movement, “Campo,” Vidovic skillfully contrasted exuberant rasgueado with the music’s melancholy gestures. The subsequent movements, “Copla” and “Fiesta,” offer an introspective song and a tightly constructed finale, respectively. Vidovic’s technical control and rhythmic expressivity left her free to bring out the work’s many moods.
The concert’s second half began again with Baroque music, this time four sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti: K. 213 (slow and harmonically intense), K. 1 (brilliantly contrapuntal), K. 27 (a study in elaborate figuration worked out over a relentlessly propulsive harmonic progression), and K. 239 (opening with a lively motif that gradually pervades the entire work). Vidovic played with impeccable articulation and thrilling ornamentation throughout.
We next heard two multimovement works by Federico Moreno Torroba (both written for Segovia). The composer’s Sonatina features a seductively lyrical Andante framed by two quicker movements with lively Spanish dance rhythms. His three-movement Suite Castellana begins with a “Fandanguillo,” whose mysterious opening, melodic contrast, and dramatic interruptions evoke flamenco. The second movement, “Arada,” provides a gentle tune and fresh harmonies, and the lively finale, “Danza,” represents the first music Torroba ever wrote for guitar and was only later added to the suite. Vidovic’s clear phrasing and sense of structure, combined with her expressive flexibility, made these wonderful neoromantic pieces emotional and exciting, though at times I wished for more varied tone color.
At the last minute, Vidovic replaced a Joaquín Turina sonata on the program with Barrios’s masterpiece La Catedral. The work’s three movements consist of an ethereal Preludio depicting the composer at prayer, an Andante religioso evoking the grandeur of Bach’s organ music as heard in the magnificent Montevideo Cathedral, and an Allegro solemne showing Barrios “dancing in a mad whirlwind” as he leaves the church. Vidovic’s incredible virtuosity in the third movement was breathtaking
The guitarist asked the audience to suggest an encore, and from the many pieces proposed, she chose Recuerdos de la Alhambra by Francisco Tárrega. This well-known example of tremolo technique is often treated by performers as a display of virtuosity, but Vidovic rewarded us with one of the most lyrical and soulful interpretations I have ever heard.
