Arnold, Crittengen, Gershwin & Gorb VIDA Guitar Quartet Mark Ashford, Mark Eden, Helen Sanderson & Christopher Stell Purcell Room London, 22 April 2013 A splendid launch recital for VIDA Guitar Quartet's second CD [BGS121]. They achieved excellent rapport with their capacity audience, which included many dumb-struck children. Prctically all the items were arrrangements, mostly by the group's own members; that for Rhapsody in Blue took far longer to achieve than did the original composition by Gershwin. One thing to note; sharp ears are important for players and listeners; tuning is important and the VIDAs knew that more frequent adjustment was needed between items than for a string quartet. But it is all such a visual experience that CDs only tell half the story; their next recording surely must be a DVD and to include some original compositions for a very viable concert medium, which could surely become more popular at music academies if they do the rounds with residencies, masterclasses etc? Peter Grahame Woolf |