Eduardo Fernandez, whose recordings of Spanish and 20th century works are well known to guitar audiences, brought an eclectic program to the latest Augustine Guitar Series concert at the Manhattan School of Music. To begin the program, Fernandez reached back over 400 years to the vihuela music of Luis Narvaez. His performance of Diferencias on "O Gloriosa Domina" by Narvaez was a mixed bag--lifeless in the slower segments, but enthusiastic and vibrant in the faster sections. Performing Elliot Carter's "Changes" while reading from the score is a wise decision, since it is difficult to execute the composer's intentions accurately from memory. Unfortunately, it was disruptive to the pacing of the concert to have Fernandez leave the stage after Diferencias, wait for the music for "Changes" to be set up, return to perform "Changes", and then leave the stage again while the music was removed. Also, some page turns were awkwardly placed in relation to the music, causing further distraction. That being said, the performance was very satisfying, with Fernandez capturing the spirit of the rapid starts and screeching halts that are characteristic of "Changes".

His painstaking attention to detail in the treatment of tone and dynamics gave the different sections of the piece a cohesive feel. The first half of the program ended with "Rossiniana, No. 3, Op. 121" by Mauro Giuliani. This was Fernandez at his best. His masterful use of vibrato and articulation, even in the most rapid passages, brought out the character of this expressive, romantic work. It was a rousing finale and one to which the audience responded enthusiastically. Although Agustin Barrios is in danger of becoming overplayed in concert, from a popularity perspective it is hard to go wrong by including his pieces on a guitar program--especially for an artist who has a passion and instinctive feel for the music of Barrios. Fernandez's interpretation of "Baracola" captured perfectly its soulful character, while in "Dansa Paraguaya" his staccato bass notes made the piece sound too choppy. His presentation of "Choro de Suadade", a piece that is technically more demanding than it sounds, was characterized by marvelously shaped phrases and a warm dark tone. "La Catedral" has become one of the more frequently performed Barrios compositions. In the Preludio, Fernandez's interpretation was marred only by some melody notes being played slightly after the beat when changing positions. The Allegro was more gratifying, filled with tension and release in the descending bass note sequences and strong forward motion.

The program concluded with Leo Brouwer's Sonata. Commissioned by Julian Bream in 1990, it was first performed by Bream a year later. The Sonata consists of three movements, "Fandangos y Boleros", "Sarabanda de Scriabin" and "Toccata de Pasquini". The first movement is characterized by tonal contrasts reminiscent of Takemitsu. Here, I particularly liked the care with which Fernandez began and ended phrases, something of particular importance when interpreting Brouwer. Fernandez gave "Sarabanda de Scriabin" a distant and remote feel. "La Toccata de Pasquini" was performed masterfully, from the opening onslaught of notes and angry dialog between voices, to the powerfully articulated bass notes leading to a rousing finish. The program was relatively short, with the first half clocking in at under thirty minutes and the second half at under forty-five, including encores by Savio and Narvaez. Fernandez seemed more inwardly focused and as a result did not exhibit strong stage presence or focus on visual communication with the audience. Overall, this was not a consistent Fernandez, but his performances of Carter, Giuliani and Brouwer were well worth hearing.