An occasional series featuring guest articles. This week, third-year Mathematics student and guitar Scholar Andrew Kitchin reviews the Eden-Stell lunchtime concert.

—-

A certain degree of suspense was created by the dimly-lit stage as the concert began, which displayed nothing but two empty chairs and a footst00l. The two performers didn’t disappoint, providing the attentive audience with a varied repertoire ranging from Bach to Rodrigo.

From the outset, the virtuosity of the Mark Eden and Christopher Stell was clear, highlighted by the hauntingly clear trills in Bach’s arrangement of Marcello’s Oboe Concerto, arranged for two guitars by Christopher Stell, and the subtle vibrato displayed in Timothy Bowers’ Fantasy on an Old English Melody.

Between performances, the duo contextualised the repertoire with informative and witty comments, alluding to the history and meaning of the pieces they clearly loved to play.

They also performed two pieces by Mompou, arranged this time by Mark Eden.

The stand-out piece of the concert was the pair’s performance of Rodrigo’s  Tonadilla. This devilish dance encapsulates everything that is special about the Spanish guitar repertoire.  Swirling runs, aggressive rasgueado strumming and delicate folk melodies, all of which the pair executed magnificently, bringing the performance to a rapturous end.

The concert was a brief, warm, Catalan reprise, from an otherwise wet and windy November day.