Guitar World

Paraguay According to Agustin Barrios; DVD Review.

Paraguayan guitarist virtuoso Berta Rojas has previously recorded an audio only Barrios CD, yet for this DVD portrait of Paraguay to the music of it’s best loved composer, who better than Rojas to perform…

That Rojas is a guitarist of the highest technical caliber is beyond dispute, and her interpretation skills have a particular incline towards this music of her homeland. It is though, only 8 pieces;

Las Abejas (The Bees), Jha Che Valle (O My Homeland) Caazapa, Sueno en la Floresta, La Catedral, Danza Paraguaya, Julia Florida, Ultima Cancion (The Last Song)

The music is set to narrative by Rojas of Barrios brief biography, with each piece depicting a phase of the composers life, to pictures of Paraguay interspersed with Rojas playing. What is superb is Rojas music. It is sublime, something to which Barrios himself would be very proud, of that I’m sure. Witness the sublime phrasing in Caazapa and Julia Florida, and the dance music of Danza Paraguaya and Jha Che Valle, to the poignant La Ultima Cancion , the final work written by Barrios shortly before his death in El Salvador.

What works less is, despite some beautiful pictures of the country, there is a distinct lack of imagination by the director, with way too many shots of the same type, example numerous shots of suitcases in Caazapa, and one repeated shot of reeds by the riverside throughout. I myself would have preferred the likes of Danza Paraguaya style all through, of Rojas playing in local countryside, opposed to only occasional shots of the guitarist, in between many pictures of Rail Stations, sheet music, and other unrelated pictures. In Floresta, Rojas is playing near a large waterfall, and without  water sounds  blended in for effect, this looks just plain artificial, particularly with Rojas proving less efficient in miming than in actual playing.

Overall, a superb effort by Rojas, let down by unimaginative direction and way too sketchy narrative. A project of this magnitude deserved  far more detailed content.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS