Ricardo Cobo

Monday, April I, 1996 C3 
MUSIC REVIEW 
Cobo’s remarkable show played tribute to Seattle’s own Morrant

By RM. CAMPBELL 
P.I MUSIC CRITIC

Guitarist Ricardo Cobo’s concert at Seattle Pacific University’s Bach Theatre Friday night was remarkable for its impeccable taste, fluid technique and clarity of design.

As such, the recital by this hugely talented Colombian-born musician was a fitting tribute to Wynn Morrant- The longtime president of the Seattle Classic Guitar Society who died last year.

A well-known teacher of guitar who taught at SPU and Seattle University, Morrant was one of the city’s most important exponents of classical guitar. Her activities were wide-ranging, not only in Seattle, and always aimed at achieving a wide audience for the singular beauties of the guitar.

As president of the 38-year-old society for more than two decades, Morrant was responsible for bringing to Seattle a number of notable guitarists, including Julian Bream, Benjamin Verdery, Paco Pena, David Russell, Oscar Gighlia and William Kanengeiser.

Cobo is the sort of artist she would have booked, for he demonstrates the quality of his breeding at every turn. Invariably he delivered the goods with textural clarity, control and passionate musicianship.

His program was almost entirely derived from this century: A polonaise of the 19Ih-century French composer and guitarist Napoleon Coste was the only exception.

The rest of the evening included works ranging from those of the Cuban-born composer Leo Brouwer to a couple of tangos by Astor Piazzolla of Argentina and a waltz by Nikita Koshkin of Russia, as well as works by Eduardo Sainz de la Maza, Antonio Lauro, and Roland Dyens.

Cobo has high regard for Brouwer and calls him “one of the great 2Oth-century figures in the history of the guitar.” As such, Cobo is recording a great deal of his music. Thus, be said at Friday night’s performance, the generous inclusion of Brouwer’s music: a fugue to open the concert, followed by the suite, “El Decameron Negro,” which takes its programmatic inspiration from Boccaccio’s 14th-Century “Decameron,” and a Sonata composed in 1990.

The concert probably would have been better off with less Brouwer. While each work has its merits, they blend together when heard in rapid succession.

Nevertheless, “EI Decameron” has plenty of individual color and charm, which Cobo elucidated with his suave manner.

The Sonata was equally diversified: especially the imagined conversation between Antonio Soler of 18th-century Spain and Beethoven of 19th-century Germany in “Fandangos y Boleros,” and the scattered hints of Russian composer Alexander Scriabin in “Sarabanda de Scriabin.” Cobo’s response was one of soft warmth and power.

Interwoven with his Brouwer mix was a handful of engaging works by Piazzolla and Koshkin. The two Piazzolla tangos, “La Muerte del Angel” and “Primavera Porteña,” possess the composer’s characteristic combination of beguiling melodies and piquant rhythms. Cobo has obvious sympathy for Piazzolla’s unique style which he delivered with his uncommon sense of lucidity and graciousness without robbing the music of its robust flavor.

To Koshkin’s “Usher Waltz,” based on Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Cobo brought intensity coupled with lightness of touch.

Proceeds from the concert will help the McKenna-Morrant Scholarship Fund at the Seattle Classic Guitar Society.

By RM. CAMPBELL P.I MUSIC CRITIC Guitarist Ricardo Cobo’s concert at Seattle Pacific University’s Bach Theatre Friday night was remarkable for its impeccable taste, fluid technique and clarity of design.

As such, the recital by this hugely talented Colombian-born musician was a fitting tribute to Wynn Morrant- The longtime president of the Seattle Classic Guitar Society who died last year.

A well-known teacher of guitar who taught at SPU and Seattle University, Morrant was one of the city’s most important exponents of classical guitar. Her activities were wide-ranging, not only in Seattle, and always aimed at achieving a wide audience for the singular beauties of the guitar.

As president of the 38-year-old society for more than two decades, Morrant was responsible for bringing to Seattle a number of notable guitarists, including Julian Bream, Benjamin Verdery, Paco Pena, David Russell, Oscar Gighlia and William Kanengeiser.

Cobo is the sort of artist she would have booked, for he demonstrates the quality of his breeding at every turn. Invariably he delivered the goods with textural clarity, control and passionate musicianship.

His program was almost entirely derived from this century: A polonaise of the 19Ih-century French composer and guitarist Napoleon Coste was the only exception.

The rest of the evening included works ranging from those of the Cuban-born composer Leo Brouwer to a couple of tangos by Astor Piazzolla of Argentina and a waltz by Nikita Koshkin of Russia, as well as works by Eduardo Sainz de la Maza, Antonio Lauro, and Roland Dyens.

Cobo has high regard for Brouwer and calls him “one of the great 2Oth-century figures in the history of the guitar.” As such, Cobo is recording a great deal of his music. Thus, be said at Friday night’s performance, the generous inclusion of Brouwer’s music: a fugue to open the concert, followed by the suite, “El Decameron Negro,” which takes its programmatic inspiration from Boccaccio’s 14th-Century “Decameron,” and a Sonata composed in 1990.

The concert probably would have been better off with less Brouwer. While each work has its merits, they blend together when heard in rapid succession.

Nevertheless, “EI Decameron” has plenty of individual color and charm, which Cobo elucidated with his suave manner.

The Sonata was equally diversified: especially the imagined conversation between Antonio Soler of 18th-century Spain and Beethoven of 19th-century Germany in “Fandangos y Boleros,” and the scattered hints of Russian composer Alexander Scriabin in “Sarabanda de Scriabin.” Cobo’s response was one of soft warmth and power.

Interwoven with his Brouwer mix was a handful of engaging works by Piazzolla and Koshkin. The two Piazzolla tangos, “La Muerte del Angel” and “Primavera Porteña,” possess the composer’s characteristic combination of beguiling melodies and piquant rhythms. Cobo has obvious sympathy for Piazzolla’s unique style which he delivered with his uncommon sense of lucidity and graciousness without robbing the music of its robust flavor.

To Koshkin’s “Usher Waltz,” based on Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Cobo brought intensity coupled with lightness of touch.

Proceeds from the concert will help the McKenna-Morrant Scholarship Fund at the Seattle Classic Guitar Society.

“Indeed, Cobo set the bar so high that despair must have been as much part of the package as inspiration for the students in the audience. Cobo strode onstage clearly ready to melt nylon and mesmerize listeners. Graceful musicality was as evident as superhuman technique.”

–LOS ANGELES TIMES
CSU, Long Beach

  

“Mesmerizing…Cobo crafted each piece with skill and love. Sometimes fiery, other times sultry, the movements from Brouwer’s “El Decameron Negro” were note-perfect essences of beauty.”

– The Washington Post
Phillips Gallery

 

“His playing was impeccable, his performance style suave…had he wanted to, he could have set the stage ablaze with burst after burst of pyrotechnics. Both his virtuosity and his need to display it were things utterly under his control.”

– ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
The Ethical Society

 

“Cobo’s performance was characterized by generosity of spirit, to say nothing of knockout virtuosity. His playing was extrovert, lyrical, rhythmically alive. Every line knew where it was going. His tone had a deep gloss and brilliant highlights.”

-San Antonio Express-News
San Antonio Symphony, GFA

 

“The multiple-prize-winning Colombian musician certainly has a full technical arsenal at his disposal… Cobo offered a wealth of quiet detail, nuance and tone color, in fluent, easygoing readings. His own arrangements of tangos by Piazzolla really sparkled… a stunning show.”

– LOS ANGELES TIMES
Ambassador Auditorium, Pasadena

 

“Cobo exhibits a level of confidence and facility that few guitarists possess. He executes the most difficult passages almost effortlessly, and his lightness and brilliance in fast scale passages and effervescent arpeggios was dazzling. In addition, his sound was powerful and beautiful. He played with such conviction and feeling that one simply heard music – not ‘twentieth century’ music.” 

– Guitar Review
Merkin Hall, New York

 

“Cobo’s concert was remarkable for its impeccable taste, fluid technique and clarity of design. This hugely talented Colombian musician demonstrates the quality of his breeding at every turn. Invariably he delivered the goods with textural clarity, control and passionate musicianship.”

– Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Seattle Pacific Univ. Bach Theater

  

“Cobo Masterful. Powerful…intense…precise…Cobo seems well on his way to becoming one of the major guitarists. [His] closing works raised the expressive ante almost to nfinity.”

– Albuquerque Journal
UNM Recital Hall

  

“Cobo’s recital did what guitar recitals, when they are wonderful, do best. [His] expert, sensitive playing created that rare atmosphere in which the guitar’s sounds can echo to the very bottom of a listener’s being. Cobo showed it is possible to sing on the guitar…his lavish, florid ornamentation, took the breath away.”

– Winston-Salem Journal
NCSA, Winston-Salem

 

“Truly remarkable…Cobo’s impeccable playing radiated southern warmth and was complemented by an unassuming and engaging stage manner. He is a young artist with all the stuff it takes, and more.”

– Soundboard Magazine
GFA, Akron, Ohio

 

“This young guitarist possesses the enormous capacity to interpret the works of classical and contemporary masters with absolute fidelity, with energy, and with the firm commitment to reach his audience and deliver the true spirit of the composer.”

– El Pais
Cali, Colombia
Festival Internacional Proartes

  

“…beginning with Bach’s considerably challenging work, Cobo’s commanding abilities and innate sense of musical contour quelled any doubts. His attention to details and refined sound propelled this work. The transparency of the fugue and fluid lyricism of the sarabande were compelling, as was the perfect execution

of the difficult gigue.”

– Kansas City Times

 

“Cobo proved to have refined musical sense, a warm concert personality, and solid technical mastery…In his Brouwer, he obtained the purest sonorities, articulated with sheer clarity…In both monumental works (of Ponce and Berkeley), the guitarist displayed his artistic brilliance–fluid fingerings, transparent tones, and subtle color gradations.”

– La Nación
San José,Costa Rica

 

“Tonight we heard a guitarist of great stature…the young Colombian is a superb guitarist, very consistent, sure at every moment, with personality…”

– Diario Castellón,
(Tárrega Int’l. Competition) Benicasim, Spain

 

“With a solid technique, a very beautiful sound, warm phrasing, and impeccable execution, Cobo gave us a magnificent version of this well-known (Rodrigo) concerto.”

– El Espectador
Bogota, Teatro Leon De Greiff

 

“Apart from the pleasures of technical bravura and musicality, the concert was a garden of seldom-heard delights. Colombia-born Cobo is a dynamic player who not only digs into passages of rhythmic verve and percussive ferocity but also plays close heed to the fine points of tonal color. He is a player who lays claim to the twin virtues of passion and clarity. To boot, he’s on an admirable repertoire-expanding mission.”

– LOS ANGELES TIMES Westwood

 

“(In his Bach), which was skillfully executed, Cobo ensured that a polyphonic texture would amaze the listener. Several voices, lushly coming from Cobo’s guitar, stood as testimony to the ineffable genius of Bach.”

– The Richmond News Leader
Richmond, VA

 

“Cobo’s tone is velvet, his technique seems to have no limitations, and his guitar can be as big and brassy or as soft and expressive as he wishes.”

– Soundboard Magazine
G.F.A. Miami 1991

  

“…A Fascinating First…His performance was moving and very expressive. Subtlety, delicacy and refinement prevailed throughout the program. The sizable audience stood in tribute to his inspired performance.”

 – Savannah News Press
Savannah Onstage 

 

“Fabulous…From the softest strums to the most aggressive twangs, Cobo played with a thorough sense of dramatic effect and mastery of the instrument.”

– The Blade, Ohio
Toledo, OH 

 

“Cobo played with the poise of a true master. Emotionally vibrant and most satisfying…Cobo’s rendition[s] [were] marked by a wonderful balance of bravura and sensitivity.”

– The Rosette,
Orange Cty. Guitar Circle

  

“Ricardo Cobo’s impeccable technique seems to smile from within…This is a joyful performer who is not trapped by his instrument. How marvelous it was to be immersed in an evening of masterful music.”

– El Occidente
Auditorio FES 

 

“Cobo…is at home with his instrument and frequently at one with it. The clear, full, balanced counterpoint of J.S. Bach’s Second Lute Suite – the burnished brass lines, silvery top and plangent middle voices displayed the talents of a musician in total control of his resources.”

– The Phoenix Gazette
Tempe, AZ

  

“An artist who vibrates with his art and loves his guitar intensely. From the first moments we witnessed

an artist of an immense and awesome sensitivity.”

– El Occidente
Cali,Colombia

  

“Ricardo Cobo confirmed his high qualities of virtuosity that place him among the most distinguished international artists.”

– El País,
Cali, Colombia

  

“Guest artist Ricardo Cobo”s superb performance of Joaquin Rodrigo”s famous “Concierto de Aranjuez” shimmered with color… The melancholy passages of the second movement were beautiful beyond belief or the reviewers poor powers of description.”

– THE EVANSVILLE PRESS
Evansville, IL

 

“Ricardo Cobo was magnificent. The concerto’s three movements allowed Cobo to demonstrate his artistry. Cobo carresed his instrument gripping the audience with music at once soothing and uplifting for almost half an hour.”

– THE EVANSVILLE COURIER

 

“Watching and listening to Cobo play was to witness someone who had an obvious sense of theater, and who was able to mesmerize an audience with his commitment to his art. His consumate technical ability, which was frequently on display, was never used as an end in itself; rather he was able to easily communicate the essence of each number without giving the impression that it was difficult to do.”

– TRIAD Style
Dana Auditorium, Greensboro 

 

“His warm sound massaged the ears , the only bite occuring at the specific instructions of the composers. His technique was flawless as he tossed off difficult passages with ease, usually with his eyes closed.”

-The Jersey Star-Ledger

 

“Performing Piazzolla Tangos in his opening, Cobo established a moody, sultry intimacy that drew the large audience into his personal aura, so beguiling was his playing. Cobo displayed his technical virtuosity and expressive artistry in thrilling performances of Roland Dyens’ dazzling Hommages.”

–THE HARTFORD COURANT
Connecticut Guitar Society

 

“Cobo has fabulous, relaxed technique. The music flowed easily and nothing seemed a strain. Brouwer’s “un Día” was a lovely opening piece, beautifully phrased. Dyens’ Fuoco was was performed very fast, with a marvelous texture, wide dynamic range and the steady driving rhythm that holds it all together.

De La Maza’s tremolo was played with great speed and control…his rendition was clearly a crowd-pleaser.”

– The CCGS Society Letter
Hartford, CT

 

” With a tough sell of his all-contemporary program, Cobo put the tunes in your ear with such ease and confidence that any concerns of technical competence or conceptual form simply went away. Amiable and charming, his stage demeanor is in top form as he freely shares backround about the music before playing.

There is nothing unusual about his position or playing style except for a wide contrast of tonal colors, big volume, and truly eye-popping efficiency of both hands. Cobo’s show at the Diana Wortham Theatre in Asheville was a Blue Chip Act of the first magnitude.”

– The GSWC Newsletter
Asheviile, NC