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Reviewed by:
  • William Kanengiser—Classical Guitar and Beyond, and: LAGQ Live!
  • Randall Zwally
William Kanengiser—Classical Guitar and Beyond. DVD. Directed by Bill Bay. Pacific, MO: Mel Bay Publications, 2006. 21487DVD. $24.95.
LAGQ Live! DVD. Directed by Doug Witherspoon. Pacific, MO: Mel Bay Publications, 2005. 21047DVD. $29.95.

William Kanengiser's remarkable mastery of the classical guitar extends far beyond the world of the concert soloist. His talents are just as extraordinary when applied to the roles of ensemble performer, composer, and arranger. This comes through loud and clear in two recently released DVDs from Mel Bay Publications.

William Kanengiser—Classical Guitar and Beyond is primarily a performance DVD but it also reveals fascinating information about the performer as well as the compositions he presents. Kanengiser takes time to introduce the viewer to the most important elements of each of the fifteen compositions before he performs them during this 151-minute DVD. These verbal "program notes" can considerably enhance the viewer's understanding and appreciation of each work.

The first half of the DVD presents Kanengiser's performances of works from the standard classical guitar repertory. Pieces by Sor, Aguado, and Giuliani are played with clarity, authority, and tasteful expression.

In the second half of the performance we are treated to pieces written by composers influenced by the Spanish culture, world music and jazz. Great works by Rodrigo, de Falla, Hand, and Domeniconi are lavished upon the viewer with all the power, sensitivity, and poignancy that those great compositions deserve and require. Kanengiser does not hold back; he lets us have it all. But his great tone quality and accuracy never suffer regardless of the fast tempos and his passionate involvement.

A delightful and enlightening feature of this superb DVD is an interview with Kanengiser. The viewer learns about his years of being mentored by classical guitar master, Pepe Romero, at the University of Southern California (USC). Kanengiser, who is now a member of the guitar faculty at USC, also shares some extremely useful advice concerning learning new pieces, conserving motion in playing, and making effective use of practice time.

The pièce de résistance, however, of this DVD is a segment in which Kanengiser makes a humorous presentation at a recent convention of the Guitar Foundation of America. He proves himself to be a superb impersonator as he presents his impression of famous classical guitarists and how they might discuss the future of their art. Whether or not one is familiar with the artists being parodied, this segment will [End Page 128] provide the viewer with a howling good time of continuous belly laughs!

This brings us to the second DVD, LAGQ Live! Kanengiser is a founding member of the Grammy-winning Los Angeles Guitar Quartet (LAGQ) that has been performing together for over twenty-five years.

In its ninety-seven minutes, the DVD presents a recent live concert performed by the ensemble in Saint Louis. The other members of the quartet—John Dearman, Andrew York, and Scott Tenant—are also highly accomplished guitarists who have distinguished teaching and performing careers.

The program covers broad ground. It includes arrangements of works by J. S. Bach, Tchaikovsky, and Liszt, plus pieces written for guitar ensemble influenced by the musical traditions of such diverse cultures as West Africa, Indonesia, Scotland, and South America.

The musicianship and effective interplay between the performers in this concert is just superb. The playing is so clean and tight that it often sounds as if one gigantic multi-stringed guitar is playing. The quality of this quartet's playing is legendary and this DVD certainly helps to perpetuate that reputation.

Kanengiser proves that he is also a gifted composer and arranger in this concert. His composition, Gongan, effectively imitates the sound of an Indonesian gamelan by having the players attach alligator clips and plastic discs to their strings for the performance. His arrangement of Chet Atkins' Blue Echo (which imitates the sound of an "echo" amplifier) is simply spectacular. His arrangement, "Pachelbel's Loose Canon," is delightfully hilarious as it takes the familiar piece through pop, Latin, bluegrass, jazz and rock variations.

There are a few noteworthy addenda to this DVD. Pepe Romero gives...

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