A Guitar Recital Jordan Charnofsky, Guitar November 12, 2011 Music Recital Hall, Los Angeles Valley College, Van Nuys, California By Dave Wyne and Donna Broderick

Last night at Los Angeles Valley College, we joined a capacity audience for a recital performance by guitarist, Jordan Charnofsky. In fact, the performance was delayed, due to the increased demand for seating. Dr. Charnofsky is a graduate of California State University, Northridge, and earned his Master's and Doctorate degrees in Classical Guitar Performance from the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. Given his background and credentials, we expected a high level of proficiency. We received much more.

Charnofsky introduced each selection of this program from the stage, establishing an instant connection and rapport with his audience. He began with "Shalom Aleichem" by Israel Goldfarb (1879-1967), which when translated, means "Peace be unto you." As this title implies, the work reflects a combination of traditional Jewish themes, and Spanish inflections were also added. We found Charnofsky's interpretation to be heartfelt and idiomatic.

We were then treated to a group of Charnofsky's original compositions entitled, "Four Impressions." These pieces were performed without pause, and liberally sprinkled with harmonics. The last piece of the group, "Tropic Delight," featured a samba/bossa nova rhythm, replete with slaps on the body of the guitar.

The heart of the first half of the recital was a performance of "Grand Solo, Op. 14" by Fernando Sor (1778-1839). Charnofsky provided a detailed introduction to this piece with biographical information about the composer, alluding to his reputation as the "Beethoven of the guitar," while informing us that Sor's compositional style was "more akin to that of Mozart or Haydn." Following the short Andante introduction was the challenging Allegro portion, requiring a high level of virtuosity on the part of the performer. Charnofsky delivered, showing scant signs of effort.

Composer Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) is most famous for his different treatments of the Tango dance form. He fused Argentinean, European and American Jazz elements, to create "Nuevo Tango." Next, Charnofsky performed four Piazzolla pieces entitled, "Cuatro Piezas," arranged by Baltazar Benitez (1944-). The final piece of this group, "Primavera Porteña," made a piquant and effective use of the minor second.

After a short intermission, Charnofsky began the second half of the program with his own "Brazilian Suite: Sonho do Mar." As with his compositions in the first part of the program, harmonics were again liberally used to help create a Latin-American flavor.

These works were followed by "Variaciones Sobre un Tema de Sor, Op. 15," by Miguel Llobet (pronounced "Jo-bet," 1878-1938), who was a student of the guitarist/composer, Francisco Tarrega. Although the name of this piece implies that the "theme" was written by Fernando Sor, it was, in fact, the well-known "La Follia," perhaps most notably used by Sergei Rachmaninov in his "Corelli Variations." This piece was the heart of the second half of the program, and probably the technical "tour de force" of the entire evening. One of the variations was entirely in harmonics, followed by a variation for the left hand alone.

The last two pieces on the program were by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968). Charnofsky indicated that this prolific composer dedicated many of his guitar works to his close friend and contemporary, Andrés Segovia. He stated that Castelnuovo-Tedesco musically spelled out the letters of Segovia's name, using a chromatic scale. Before playing "Tonadilla on the Name of Andrés Segovia, Op. 170, No. 5," Charnofsky demonstrated this principle.

The final piece, "Capriccio Diabolico (Omaggio a Paganini), Op. 85," as the name suggests, uses a theme from Niccolò Paganini's "Second Violin Concerto" that was popularized by Franz Liszt in his "La Campanella Etude." Charnofsky performed this piece with a great deal of style and flair. When responding to repeated applause, Jordan Charnofsky dedicated the entire concert to his professors. We were treated to two encores of Charnofsky's compositions entitled, "Laguna Breeze," and "Prayer Without Words."

This was a well-planned program, performed by an excellent musician who is clearly "on the rise!"