October 13-14, 2006

We then have two more concerts with Luciana, in Atlanta and Wilmington, NC. I love the program. The repertoire includes some fantastic Brazilian music by Pascoal, Bellinati, a brilliant medley of Brazilian tunes arranged for the Quartet by Sergio Assad; a group of duets between Luciana and each member of the group.

Also we play Falla's El Amor Brujo. Coincidentally, I played this piece a year earlier with the Falla Trio. When learning it that first time, I actually listened to the LAGQ recording to see how they handled certain passages. There was a burning intensity and some puzzling virtuosic effects in the LAGQ version I couldn't quite figure out. But now that I've played with the Quartet I know: a lot of it is Scott (and his thumb). Brujo really showcases Scott's magic, from shimmering thumb tremelos to brilliant rasquedos to spine-tingling scalar flourishes to cante jondo cadenzas.

After this concert, sadly for me, I have no more concerts with the group until February. Kind of a downer. But, in between their recital concerts with Andy, I'll see them for rehearsals and some other Quartet business...