KEY POINTS:
PERFORMANCE
Who: Gunter Herbig
Where and when: All Saints Howick, Sat 7.30pm; St Matthew-in-the-City, Sun 1pm
On disc: Gunter Herbig, Hauturu (Manu 5016, through Ode Records)
Gunter Herbig is a cosmopolitan chap, born in Brazil, growing up in Portugal and educated in Germany. For the past 18 years, he has
been based in New Zealand, establishing himself as one of our leading guitarists, not afraid to challenge and stimulate his audiences.
When Herbig tackles the Five Preludes of Villa-Lobos, as he will this Saturday and Sunday, he warns that his versions are not quite the same as those you might hear on recordings of the work. Herbig has returned to original manuscripts and taken on board Villa-Lobos' first, raw take.
"These versions give us a new insight into a composer's way of thinking," Herbig explains. "You can see where Villa-Lobos started from and audiences can feel part of the creative process."
The Brazilian composer also turned up on his 2007 album Hauturu, a CD which Herbig thought "might be bought by a few ex-students and libraries"; as it happened, the disc's intriguing mix of Villa-Lobos, Bach and New Zealand composer John Rimmer has taken it to the top of Radio New Zealand Concert's Classical Chart for seven weeks.
The guitarist is a supporter of the local composer and he likes to introduce new music with words when he plays it in concert. "It's a little bit like being a second-hand car salesman," he jests. "You've got a piece that could be difficult, but if you tell the audience something of its history and background, the people will be more likely to listen to it with openness."
There are New Zealand works included this weekend - David Farquhar's Prospero Dreaming and four Canzonas by Douglas Lilburn. "No special advocacy should be needed here," he says, "especially with the Lilburn. These are lovely, mellow, romantic pieces, not like the slightly harsher language of the guitar music he wrote at the end of the 60s when he was turning to electronic music."
Permission had to be sought from the Lilburn Trust to transcribe three of the works. "It was the first time anyone was allowed to mess with Lilburn's music," he says with a slight laugh. The trustees need not have worried. Not only did the composer make a guitar transcription of the first Canzona, but the remainder could have been written with this instrument in mind, and Herbig is just the man to do them justice.