Music Review : Parkening Guitar Recital at Ambassador

Although he rarely challenges himself or his listeners anymore, guitarist Christopher Parkening continues to be an exceptionally popular recording artist and recitalist. Saturday night, a sold-out audience at Ambassador Auditorium witnessed the native Angeleno performing his usual fare of light guitar classics.

His mellow sound can soothe even the most unsophisticated of ears, while his hands and memory are perhaps less dexterous than those of many of his peers. Free use of sul ponticello , vibrato and other effects, as well as fluctuating tempos, gives less authenticity to his Baroque and Classical repertory, though Parkening banks on these techniques to give him his signature style.

With the exception of the lack of his usual Bach piece, the program offered no surprises. The performance of Sor’s Variations on a Theme of Mozart proceeded joyfully, though not without its rough edges.

Three suites--a transcription of selections from Praetorius’ “Terpsichore,” four Catalan dances arranged by Andres Segovia (Parkening’s teacher) and guitarist Miguel Llobet, and a short opener by Murcia--were the best examples of Parkening’s penchant for simplicity.

Three transcriptions of Albeniz piano pieces proved colorful and satisfying items. Other works such as Sanz’s “Canarios,” Granados’ “Villanesca” and Tarrega’s “Capricho Arabe” were all executed with engaging vim.

Guitarist David Brandon, who has toured with Parkening since 1984, collaborated dutifully on the last four works by Falla, Castelnuovo-Tedesco and local composer Andrew York, plus an encore of Gordon Young’s “Hymn of Christian Joy.” Parkening closed by himself with another encore, his own quirky arrangement of the Shaker hymn “ ‘Tis a Gift to Be Simple.”