Search - Matthew Dunne, Jacques Hetu, Juan Manen :: Jérôme Ducharme: Guitar Recital

An Extraordinary Musician

B. R. Townsend | Mexico | 12/12/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I haven't been so impressed with a debut recording since that of Ana Vidovic--or even that of Manuel Barrueco, more than twenty years ago. As a matter of fact, I first heard Jerome Ducharme play more than a decade ago when he was a student at the Conservatoire in Montreal. I was on his year-end jury examination. A very fine player even then, but his musicianship has greatly expanded since. He spent a year studying with Oscar Ghiglia which may have contributed as Mr. Ghiglia is probably the most profound teacher of musicianship in the guitar world.



The repertoire chosen is interesting and extremely well-played. From a technical standpoint, the two fast scales in the Rodrigo Zapateado have never been played better (nor faster, I suspect). The musical substance of the repertoire is wide-ranging, but not all of the same interest. The Three Pieces by Rodrigo are of the highest quality, of course, but while I like and have performed the Suite by Quebec composer Jacques Hetu, it is not of the same level. And I have to say that the Ginastera Sonata seems to be shrinking as time goes on. The brilliance of the sounds seem to be less and less supported by musical interest. The competition piece by Dunne is just that, though pleasant enough sounding. That leaves the Homenaje by Falla which is both a tremendous piece of music and played brilliantly--and a fairly obscure piece, the Fantasie-Sonata by Juan Manen. This 18-minute meditation is one I've been interested in for many years, though I never learned it myself. There has never been a satisfactory recording to my knowledge. This is a pure revelation: an extraordinary performance of a remarkable piece (it reminds me more than anything else of the Liszt Sonata in B minor for piano). If for nothing else than this, Jerome Ducharme has earned his place in the front rank of the guitar world. May he give us many more fine and thoughtful performances such as this."