After the interval Michael treated us to John Duarte’s three movement English Suite.  This not too difficult piece is full of English folk song fragments and harmonies.  It is quintessentially English and suited both Michael and his guitar very well indeed.  Michael followed this with Lullaby and Sunburst by the American composer and guitarist, Andrew York.  Both were beautifully played and the second finishing with a flourish that brought out a very warm response from the audience.

Manzanares el Real, Toija and Redaba are three miniatures describing Spanish castles and, as Hayley told us, vaguely suggested damsels in distress.  She obviously liked these pieces and the audience did too.  Hayley then presented the three movement Sonatina by the Argentinean composer, Jorge Morel.  This was joyous music, very guitaristic and played exquisitely.  The three movements (fast, slow, and fast) were well contrasted but it was the zapateado-like last movement that caught my imagination.  The technical demands are considerable but Hayley tossed them of as if they were of no consequence.  The audience was delighted.

The final part of the concert was made up of duets.  Five of the Two Part Inventions by J. S. Bach arranged by Jerry Willard were followed by the Largo and Rondo (Opus 34 number 2) by Ferdinando Carulli.  By this stage of the concert both Hayley and Michael were thoroughly enjoying themselves.  The Bach was presented with precision and clarity, the more mellow tone of Hayley’s guitar contrasting sweetly with Michael’s brighter sound.  The Carulli gave us a light-hearted ending to an excellent evening.  The audience demanded an encore and, given choices by Michael, chose to hear the Carulli played even faster.

Overall the concert was excellent though the solo choices were much more substantial than the pieces chosen for duet.  In a future concert I would very much like to hear these two gifted and well balanced players take on some of the more demanding duet repertoire such as the Tonadilla by Rodrigo or the Micro Piezas by Browuer as well as their solo repertoire.

John Coffey
Southampton Classical Guitar Society