Mislav Režić is widely recognized as one of the finest classical guitarists to emerge from Croatia, the young nation that has also produced Ana Vidović, Zoran Dukić, and other excellent players. In fact, Režić studied guitar under Dukić at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, Netherlands in the early 2000s. Since then, he has enjoyed a busy career as a soloist, chamber musician, and teacher, working all over Europe.
This week’s Video Pick finds Režić taking on the first movement of Leo Brouwer’s 1990 Sonata, which was written for and originally recorded by Julian Bream. Titled “Fandangos y Boleros,” it’s a wonderfully varied modern piece that has a few sections of its own, including a “Preambulo,” with some striking harmonics that really ring long and bright in in this recording from the Church of St. Francis in Split, Croatia; an allegretto “Danza”; and a “Coda” that quotes from Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony and also revisits the harmonics. (You can also watch Režić’s versions of the sonata’s second movement, “Sarabanda de Scriabin,” from a concert earlier this year in Greece, and the third movement, “La Toccata de Pasquini,” from the Church of St. Francis.
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That lovely guitar in the video is a 2005 Paco Santiago Marin XXX Aniversario with Hannabach strings. A new CD by Režić, featuring the Brouwer, as well as works by Toru Takemitsu, Atanas Ourkouzounov, and others, should be out in December.