E. Zivian (l) Marc Teicholz July 21

GUITAR UPSTAGES PIANO AT BRAZILIAN VOM CONCERT

It’s a rare event when virtuoso pianist and jack-of-all-trades Eric Zivian is upstaged. Nonetheless, it happened July 21 at the wildly successful Valley of the Moon Festival concert at Sonoma Valley’s Hanna Center.

The upstager was virtuoso guitarist Marc Teicholz, playing famed Brazilian guitarist/composer Sérgio Assad’s transformation of five Chopin Preludes from his Op. 28. Following Mr. Zivian’s playing of each Chopin, the Assad reworkings in Mr. Teicholz’ masterful hands were a revelation. Usually Chopin’s themes transfer poorly (e.g. Glazunov’s Chopiniana and Les Sylphides) but here, especially the G Major, No. 3, (intricate finger work) and the long D Flat, No. 15 (a pop music sound that wandered initially but developed magically) they were exquisite miniature tone poems. Mr. Teicholz used a small amplifying device that connected to his instrument's bridge.

The defiant concluding D Major Preludes juxtaposed the duo: the guitarist modulating through several keys and then intense but elegant Assad moods, and the pianist playing convincing rhythmically but blurring fast scales with overpedaling and loss of control. These Preludes call for a first-rate modern piano.

A pleasing sonic surprise came with Assad’s Capriccios for Guitar and String Quartet, the artful Mr. Teicholz being joined by violinists Keir GoGwilt and Anna Presler, Liana Bérubé (viola) and cellist Coleman Itzkoff. Two capriccios were played, the “Divine Caprice” starting out as a mix of movie/café/night music where the guitarist drove the melodies above a rumbling cello line with no sound above forte and subtle rubato, and a tarantella with wisps of Ravel and fast string vibrato.

The Ravel Trio unfolded over 26 minutes with Mr. Zivian’s colleagues Tanya Tomkins (cello) and violinist Rachell Ellen Wong delivering a captivating reading..Each of the four movements was a cornucopia of the composer’s monumental imagination, the raucous Pantoum section full of swirls of notes and piano glissandos. Ms. Wong’s big mournful theme and Ms. Tomkins’ slow solo were highlights of the Passacaglia.

Warmth rolled back in with the finale, the playing of this spectacular music flourishing in each thunderous buildup and shaped retreat. Mr. Zivian’s unruly pianism was just what the score called for, even with his well-known upper body gymnastics (lying horizontally keyboard left) and expansive sforzandos interjecting measures of lengthy string trills.

In the first half soprano Nikki Enfeld sang seven Villa-Lobos songs with Mr. Zivian (Cancões Típicas Brasileieras, Epigramas Ironicos e Sentimentalais, Modinhas e cancões) in shrill Portuguese after discussing from the stage the story of each song. The “torch song” Nésta Rua” was effective, but hearing spoken and sung Portuguese is a tough task, especially in “Na Corda da Viola” with novel wails, strange inflections, a potent ending and an athletic piano part.

The full house audience in Hanna was generous with loud applause and shouts.

Prior to the concert musicologist Kate Van Orden gave the second Blattner Series lecture with Assad videos, interviews and warm personal reminiscences of the still living Brazilian composer and seminal guitarist.