Recital Performance Review Essay

I attended the guest artist recital performance by Michael Patilla. I picked this recital, at the beginning of the semester, specifically due to his instrument, the guitar. Before I had attended this recital I had witnessed the guitar performances of many different genres of music, but never of classical pieces. Being familiar with the guitar made for a great reference point for many of the songs performed and added the little bit of musical experience I had to the situation. My overall impression of the performance was good, it was great to see a new spin on my favorite instrument; although my past experiences have me more inclined to like the faster tempo, more upbeat compositions that we performed. Michael Patilla started his evening performing a composition’s by Niccolo Paganini. Paganini, an Italian composer from the 19th century, is thought of as the most respected violinist of his era. Patilla’s first piece performed was Sonata No. 1 in A Major. This work had a fairly consistent medium tempo. It was obvious in Patilla’s first performance how passionate he was for his music. The melody in this composition seemed to change from a light feeling to a very serious sound, which showed the depth of the composer …show more content…
Patilla had to use a technique for this song that I had never seen; this technique involved picking multiple strings of the guitar as well as the addition of tapping the wooden part of the guitar at times. This technique seemed very difficult, but made it seem as if multiple instruments were playing different pitches. The melody of Gran Jota was playful and changed its sound quickly. The quick tempo of the song makes the rapid changes in the melody possible. The performer gave the impression it was a song he enjoyed performing. The intensity of this song was much greater than the others, almost as if he was more excited to play