MUSIC REVIEW : Brazil’s Guitarist Equi Makes His Local Debut in Fullerton

Authentic Brazilian music was in abundance Wednesday night at the recital hall of Cal State Fullerton, when guitarist Marcelo Equi made his Southland debut. An audience of mostly students and faculty members welcomed the 35-year-old resident of Rio de Janeiro enthusiastically.

Performing on a new instrument (his 100-year-old Telesforo Julve guitar was stolen recently), Equi gave confident, convincing readings. His conservative style refreshingly avoided interpretive liberties; he chose rather to demonstrate an intimate understanding of his native music with purity and simplicity.

The best example, Radames Gnatalli’s “Toccata Ritmo de Samba” No. 1, provided jazzy harmonies and rhythms as well as quick, chromatic scales that Equi mastered handily. He also prevailed in Gnatalli’s Etude No. 5 and used a folk tuning to create a novel use of resonance. The slower, more Romantic “Toccata Ritmo de Samba” No. 2 found fewer moments of inspiration.

After an intermission, Equi aptly performed several selections from Villa-Lobos’ guitar music, including the Five Preludes, which for some reason he performed in reverse order. Also by Villa-Lobos were three dances from the “Suite Populaire Bresilienne” and four of the Twelve Etudes.

Opening the program was a light, steady performance of Bach’s Lute Suite No. 1. The only non-Brazilian fare of the evening gave him a few forgivable troubles.

Completing the program were transcriptions of some Brazilian popular songs, a few of them arranged by his teacher, Turibio Santos. He repeated one of the songs, “Assum Preto,” in encore.