Guitar and Flute: A Happy Meeting Bringing You an Evening of Music

A musical duo of guitar and flute will present a concert entitled Duo Primo on February 4th at 4:00pm at O'Donnell Auditorium on the Wesleyan campus (Tickets $10, Students $5, Free up to age10). Musicians Betsy Bobenhouse and Antonio Forgione spoke with LincolnCMN about the upcoming performance. 
Forgione is excited that:

"The concert will feature some of the best composers who wrote for flute and guitar, from Mauro Giuliani, who made by far the largest 19th century contribution with 22 compositions, to Astor Piazzolla, who dedicated to this ensemble the celebrated Histoire du Tango."

The duo met, according to Bobenhouse, "last April through mutual musical friends. We had both played flute/classical guitar repertoire in the past and were excited to do so again." With Forgione having moved from Italy in 2011, he said, I missed my friends flutists in Italy, but it was only by chance that I met Betsy and the excitement about doing a duo was immediate" since he'd played guitar since the age of 11 and flute was the first instrument that "gave me the feeling of a perfect match with the guitar."

With both members of the duo having played guitar/flute music before, there are carefully selected favorites as well as some that are new to them both such as a piece by Libby Larsen.

What brought them to a love of music and a life with their instruments?

For Forgione, "The guitar happened to be my instruments just by chance, after a gift from a friend. I would say that it really chose me rather than the contrary,"and he feels that classical guitar is the "'ultimate' guitar" because while "not many big names of the history of music dedicated their efforts to this instrument, [...] still what the classical guitar repertoire can offer is extremely fulfilling and second to none especially in the 20th century. It challenges the hands and the mind in directions that every young musician can find rewarding."

Bobenhouse had an early start and exposure to music since her "father played French horn in the Omaha Symphony for over 30 years and my sister joined OSO as a 'cellist when she was 18 years-old." But Bobenhouse chose the flute for its sound, and while she's been playing and teaching the instrument for years, the thing she loves the most is "starting a rank beginner; it is so much fun introducing children to the music, in general, and the flute, in particular. It doesn't matter to me if a student intends to pursue a career in music because music is for everyone!"

Music is indeed for everyone, and this performance is a perfect way to experience music for those who've loved it for years or those who are just discovering the beauty of music--especially the classical sounds of guitar and flute duo!

Guitar and piano duo find challenge and joy in their repertoire

LMTA will present a performance by a local guitar/piano duo at their next meeting, May 22, at Grace Lutheran Church (22nd and Washington Sts.). The meeting starts at 11:30am. The members of the duo, Ken Hoppmann, piano, and Antonio Forgione, guitar, shared some of their history, philosophy, and passion for the music they perform with LincolnCMN.

“When we first met,” Forgione said, “we got the impression that an experience as guitar and piano duo was a great addition to our experience as musicians.” They decided to explore original repertoire for guitar and piano, and Hoppmann said they have now “been working together for about a year and a half.”

When asked why this combination of instruments attracts them, Hoppmann, the pianist, replied:

“I enjoy the subtlety of the guitar, especially in the kind of literature we are playing on Wednesday. Even though the guitar’s sound can travel nicely and certainly carry the melody, it is inherently softer than a piano. The difference in sound capability between the instruments requires me to play with more elegance and understatement than I might if I were playing with a wind instrument, for instance. Also, the fact that both the piano and guitar are stringed instruments creates some special ensemble possibilities. Overall, I am learning to approach the music as though I were playing the guitar and not the piano. I’m learning to shape phrases, execute articulations, breathe, and shade within a guitaristic paradigm. Squarely placing yourself in the artistic place of your ensemble partner is one of the most beautiful and challenging aspects of playing chamber music! It is truly one of the greatest joys I know.”

Forgione, the guitarist, appreciates that, although the repertoire is limited, it gives them the task to “extract more from the music reading…to interpret more from an historical perspective.” He also spoke about the instrumental challenges arising between guitar and piano, “you have also the chance to continuously compare the technical and stylistic approaches of both instruments. I feel that our chamber music practice is an endless and joyful research.”

When compared with other ensembles in which the guitar is accustomed to play, Forgione said that rather than the guitar being “just the harmonic sustain,” with these two “fully polyphonic instruments,” there are more times when “the goal is to spell dialog between them, improving the clarity of the lines and carefully balancing the sound.” The challenges and the possibilities are the reason that Hoppmann and Forgione have put so much passion into their duo.

They know the history of their ensemble pieces very well. “Most of the music we’ve worked with so far is from the 19th and 20th centuries,” Hoppmann explained. “A good portion of that music falls under the category of ‘Hausmusik’ or salon music, and was performed primarily in home settings, often by amateur music makers.” Lute and guitar, Forgione pointed out, were favorites of the aristocracy for a long time. When big halls and stunning performances became the norm, “the guitar was almost completely neglected as a mainstream instrument.” But that’s why the majority of the repertoire they perform comes from the “Hausmusik” era. In the 21st century, they are exploring some of the “interesting input from other musical traditions, as from the South American music.”

On Wednesday, May 22, Hoppmann and Forgione will perform the following works:

Duo, op. 134 by Ferinando Carulli (1770-1841). Carulli was born in the same year as Beethoven. He spent most part of his life in Paris, where he served with the guitar the same wealthy Parisian demographic that Chopin served with the piano. Carulli often used the title “Duo” in favor of the equally-appropriate “Sonata”. In this work, though, he creates a beautiful and entertaining piece in two movements, Larghetto and Rondo, very typical of its brilliant style, based on the finest Italian tradition coming from Naples, where he was born.

Two Rondos op. 68 by Mauro Giuliani (1781-1829). Written in 1818, when he was at the height of his career, these two short but delightful Rondos have character and contain many of the stylistic touches of the master. Giuliani was the biggest virtuoso of his time, exercising excellent capabilities as composer, guitarist and cellist in Vienna. He was collegue and friend of people like Beethoven, Diabelli, Hummel, Moscheles, Mayseder, Paganini and Rossini.

Mazurka, op. 40 and Barcarole, op. 41 by Johann Kaspar Mertz (1806-1856). Examples of the best Mertz’s works for piano and guitar, they were originally written in collaboration with his wife, the concert pianist Josephine Plantin. Recognized as one of the few leading virtuoso guitarist composers in the Romantic period, Mertz’s models were not Mozart, Beethoven and Rossini as for Carulli and Giuliani, but rather Schubert, Mendelsshon and Schumann.