by Paloma Caballero
Royal Festival Hall, Suite Argentina, with English Chamber Orchestra, Paul Barrit, leader
London, July 25
The magic sounds of the strings in the guitar and Eduardo Falú’s voice reached the thousand people who attended his only concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London, where he performed a modern selection of folklore.
He is well known and appreciated by his faithful audience. Yesterday he played for the first time „Suite Argentina“ for guitar, string instruments, trumpet and clavichord, which was very warmly received.
The „Suite Argentina“ created in 1986 is made up of popular and folklore songs, such as Carnavalito, Misa Chico, Bailecito, Zamba, Estilo and Malambo.
The simultaneous performance of all string and wind instruments together with the masterly fingering of the guitar, or the division of sounds, waiting for each other, was a delight for music lovers.
The Carnavalito is a collective dance played with the instruments typical of the Altiplano, but in Falú’s composition it becomes a dialog between the guitar and the strings that compose the centre of the work.
The Bailecito comes from Peru. It still is in the artist’s vision, a dance to court, happy and entertaining, like the Zamba. In the Estilo the clavichord sounds baroque, while the guitar and the trumpet add nostalgia.
The Malambo closes the Suite with its three strings creating a harmonious rhythm.
In the second part of the concert, the admirers of this creator of most of the Argentine guitar repertory in classic folklore could enjoy the harmony of the sounds created by his fingers on the guitar and his voice.
Skipping the program, and answering to the audience’s demands, he played tirelessly „La golondrina“, „Zamba de la Candelaria“ or „Canción del Litoral“, as well as „Canción del amor en zapatillas“, „La guarnillita“ and „Tiempo de partir“.
He had to give three encores as the audience would not stop clapping at the end of the official program, reminding him of the longing that Argentineans and Latin Americans feel when they are away from home.
