Morgan Szymanski
Bath Festival
Angela Goodman
Bath Chronicle, 23/5/05

THIS young Mexican guitarist uses personal anectdote and fascinating detail to educate his audience and breathe life into each piece before he plays.

His playing is clearly inspired by admirations for the composers and by friendship and collaboration with, for example, Alec Roth, whose Unicorn in the Garden was a sweet, wistful evocation of movement and silence, with textured droplets of notes like dripping leaves and flowers opening. Roth’s Cancion de la Luna, a lyrical spiral ending in a moonbeam of white notes, was written after Szymanski had played him some Aztec music, including a dance to the moon.

Simone Iannarelli’s sunlight lullaby, Cancion para Beatriz, evokes a clock gently ticking and the soft sleep of a child; this music also has strong personal associations, due to the composer’s friendship with Morgan Szymanski.