Marko Topchii (guitar)
Laureate Series Recital
rec. 2024, St Paul’s Anglican Church, Newmarket , Canada
Naxos 8.574630 [70]
A conspicuous commonality among most musical instrument virtuosi is the very early age at which they began mastery of their craft. A case in point is guitarist Marko Topchii, who started to play the guitar when he was 4 years old.
Topchii was born in 1991 in Kyiv, Ukraine into a musical family; his first guitar teacher was Volodymyr Homenyuk. At age 21, Topchii graduated from Kharkiv Conservatory where he studied with Vladimir Dotsenko. In 2018 he subsequently joined the professional studies programme at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music with Judicaël Perroy. Topchii is the winner of 55 international guitar competitions, among which is the prestigious Guitar Foundation of America International Guitar Competition (GFA). David Tanenbaum, who currently occupies the Chair of Guitar at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music stated that, in the 40 years he has taught at that institution, he has never heard a better student concert than that given by Marko Topchii.
The programme for this recording is not thematic, nor does it pursue any specific chronology. It presents music from late 16th/early 17th century and compositions right up to current times, represented by the world premiere recording of Sonata No 6 by Konstatin Bliokh (2021). Students will find the presence of Undercurrent (2023) by Frederick Hand valuable. This music was composed at the request of the GFA for its 2023 Guitar Competition, which Topchii won. Another enjoyable item in this programme is A Closed World of Fine Feeling and Grand Design (1997) by Australian composer Graeme Koehne. The work was commissioned by and received its inaugural performance from guitarist Timothy Kain; it was funded by the Australian Council. This programme also incorporates the only works for guitar by Albert Roussel, and Francis Poulenc
A rendition highlight of the programme is track 2, Un seuño en la floresta by Barrios. The tempo, phrasing and interpretive ‘feeling’ are highly evocative of the title. Topchii’s performance is quite outstanding, and it would be hard, if not impossible, to find a slower and smoother execution of the tremolo than displayed here. Some players seem insensitive to the inspiration behind this music, one of the most beautiful written for guitar. Well executed, the tremolo is an impressive technique, and dependent on speed and smoothness of performance, can be a poignant conveyer of emotion. It is more challenging to execute at a very slow tempo, and the sentiment of Barrios’ intention evaporates when this aspect is not observed. Similarly, the evocation of what Tarrega felt when he viewed the magnificent Alhambra with his favoured student, doña Concha, is lost when played too quickly. She was the recipient of the original score of his Recuerdos de la Alhambra as a birthday gift.
The guitar used on this occasion was made by Julian Damman, Germany. Guitarists will recognise him as the son of famous luthier Matthias Damann. The popularity of Damman guitars are such that already the son has a waiting list of 10-12 years for his instruments.
Overall the playing on this disc is superior. This musician has the technique to play difficult music at fast tempo when required. He also has the musicianship and sensitivity to control tempo in respect of conveying composer sentiment.
Zane Turner
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Contents
Albert Roussel (1869-1937)
Segovia Op.29
Agustin Barrios (1885-1944)
Un sueño en la floresta
Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)
Sarabande FP 179
Angelo Gilardino (1941-2022)
Studi di virtuosità e di transcendenza
Nos. 4, 5, 6
Arnaud Dumond (b.1950)
Hommage à Ravel
John Dowland (c.1563-1626)
Fantasia in G minor
Frederic Hand (b 1947)
Undercurrent
Konstantin Bliokh (b 1976)
Sonata No 6 ‘Kharkiv’
Graeme Koehne (b 1956)
A Closed World of Fine Feelings and Grand Design
