The recordings and concerts of Christopher Parkening are grounded in the traditions established by Andrés Segovia. They consist of short, popular pieces--no heavy, hard-to-digest modern works and no exotic interpretations. This approach enables Parkening to reach beyond the small, hard-core guitar audience to those who want merely to relax and enjoy a pleasant evening of traditional classical music. It is in this context that his recordings and concerts should be critiqued.

    Parkening began with two pieces by Spanish composer/guitarist Gaspar Sanz. In the first piece, Passacalle, the tonal color was pleasant, but more rubato would have brought it to life. Parkening fared better in the second work, Canarios, capturing perfectly the jagged syncopation. In the Segovian tradition of performing excerpts from larger works, Parkening played Courante, Ballet and Volte from Michael Praetorius' Suite in D. Although Parkening's phrasing and articulation were musical, the Courante was marred by a number of small technical lapses. In Volte, a salacious dance in 6/8 time, Parkening made the interpretive choice to forego left-hand slurs, which helped highlight its spirited temperament. Bach's Prelude from The Well-Tempered Clavier is a simple piece, and Parkening's use of sul tasto gave the interpretation a warm and serene feeling. But Bach's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring was problematic. This relatively uncomplicated piece is easy to play on keyboard, but technically troublesome on guitar. Long left-hand jumps are needed to preserve the counterpoint, but they make the piece sound active when its essence is a tranquillity that stems from a stepwise melody. This dilemma did not seem to concern the audience, who responded enthusiastically.

    The program took a pleasantly unpredictable turn with the substitution of Andrew York's Jubilation for the more familiar Sor Mozart variations. Jubilation is York's piece Sunburst with a superfluous opening added. Parkening played the piece with an adept rhythmic bounce, although the 16th note bass lines in the second half of the piece were ragged. In what has become a standard feature of Parkening concerts, the next part of the program was a set of three duos performed with guitarist David Brandon. Stylistically, Brandon has Parkening's technique but lacks his musicality. Their performance of Manuel De Falla's Song of the Will-o-the-wisp and Spanish Dance No.1 were given spiritless readings that succeeded only in bringing the energy level of concert down. Intermezzo by Enrique Granados was also a mixed bag. Parkening gave the performance vitality through solid phasing, crisp articulation and a rousing ending; but Brandon could not match it. Having two guitarists provided both an opportunity for variety and an occasion to perform works not possible in a solo guitar recital. Here, neither was achieved due to the piece selection and the caliber of the second guitarist.

    The second half of the concert was more successful. Rumores de caleta by Spanish composer/pianist Isaac Albéniz was given an exquisitely crafted performance, with a spry beginning and a soulful middle. Parkening's reading of Etude No. 11 and Preludes 1 & 4 by Heitor Villa-Lobos included the kind of Romantic gestures that typified early and mid 20th century performances. Carlo Domenecioni's most notable work for the guitar, Koyunbaba, is one of those rare pieces where the guitar is tuned to a C#m chord. This tuning supports the alternating minor and modal scales that give the piece a Moorish flavor. As such, Koyunbaba has a nice melody, but limited harmonic development. Parkening did a good job of sustaining interest by keeping the forward motion from beginning to end. Parkening was joined by baritone Jubilant Sykes for three traditional African-American spirituals. In many ways, spirituals are the art songs of our century and the guitar is the perfect accompaniment for these quintessentially American vocal works. City Called Heaven provided the consummate vehicle for Sykes to showcase his deeply expressive voice. Ain't That Good News, already a modern classic that has been recorded by a number of artists, was playful and buoyant. Were You There featured discerning harmonization by Parkening, but the tempo dragged. The three songs were a delight to hear, and Parkening and Sykes were clearly having a good time. The first encore was a vocal work, Granadinos. The piece is constructed around the flamenco chordal pattern E-F-G-F-E and the performance was characterized by great rasgueado that resonated with the audience. The second encore was the traditional solo work Romanza, a simple piece marred by an unfortunate memory slip. Despite the inconsistent performance, the audience left satisfied.