Strumming an Excellent Night

Alejandro Fernandez

Words are not enough to describe the success of the guitarist Dimitri Illarionov during closing of the sixth edition of the International Guitar Festival promoted by Escuela Superior de Música y Danza.

In his debut on Mexican land, his performance was so successful, that the Russian musician had to delight the audience with three encores at the end of his recital concluded at almost 11 p.m.

The quality of his technique, his sensibility and intelligence as a performer as well as charisma and cordiality as a person outshine everything what can be said about his performance. One more time, words are not enough.

It was gratifying being part of this event and admire the boundless talent of the 25-year old artist surely destined to find exceptional fame and worldwide recognition. From the very beginning of the concert started with «Grande Ouverture Op. 61» by Giuliani, the quality and perfection of his performance left us astonished. It rarely happens that the performer is worthy of «bravos» to the degree he was.

Dimitri Illaryonov is an artist from any point of view - not just his techniques but also the way his music fills up your heart and mind. His deep sensibility made us tremble from the beginning to the end; his ability to color and project the music in every step was unique.

Truly, this guitarist is a phenomenon.

And that not being enough, the program he played had an impeccable taste from the classical of the guitar like Agustin Barrios and Castelnuovo-Tedesco to contemporary composers, meaning the works of Gilardino, Tansman, Ivanov-Kramskoi, Balkanski, Koshkin and Assad - the originality and ingenuity of all parts of his program were just perfect.

It is difficult for me to talk about the interpretative quality of one piece over another because he was outstanding in all of them. Perhaps, one might distinguish the pieces with lyric inspiration causing a genuine emotion because of the intensity they were played with - pieces, in which he gave a masterful testimony of a vibrant, passionate and eminent performance multiplied by the excellence of his skills.

«Sonata», by the Bulgarian Balkanski, where he faced the register of contemporary language with absolute conviction deserves an admirable mentioning. Another special moment was «Pregunta» played unexpectedly to pay homage to the composer Ernesto Cordero who was in the concert hall. It was very emotional and received very well by the audience.

In short, it was a memorable concert for which we have to thank the organizers, Pedro Salcedo, Claudio Tarris and Arnoldo Nerio.

Congratulations!!

May 30, 2005