by Cait Winston

Online recitals pose the question: can a virtual format preserve the precious conversation between a musician and their audience? In a recently streamed concert, guitarists Drew Henderson and Petra Poláčková proved that such communication can still exist outside of a live setting, when the music is played with generous expressivity and technical finesse. Henderson and Poláčková’s performance, presented by the Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival, was pre-recorded and streamed on Friday, June 4th. 

Henderson began the evening with his own arrangements of three movements from J.S. Bach’s Suite No. 4 for solo cello. The Prelude features a series of descending patterns interspersed with virtuosic passages, and while these passages effectively highlighted Henderson’s technical skills, he also demonstrated dramatic expertise by playing each descending pattern with different nuances of emotion. The Sarabande, with its poise and stately pace, was juxtaposed beautifully with a lively Bourrée, where notes flurried in quick succession, but Henderson never sacrificed precise articulation for musical momentum.  [Read more…]