Music : Julian Bream Performs Brouwer Premiere

The provocative program for Julian Bream’s guitar and lute recital at Ambassador Auditorium suffered from a lack of focus and from some inaccuracies from the English master on Saturday night. But the most anticipated item--the Los Angeles premiere of Leo Brouwer’s Guitar Sonata--delivered a satisfying payoff nonetheless.

This three-movement work proved more ponderous and coldly intellectual than Brouwer’s earlier works, which are mostly light in nature and programmatic. Here, relentless ostinatos, dissonant flourishes and even an unexpected quote from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 made the music unpredictable, though still attractive in an enigmatic, quirky sort of way.

Brouwer’s austere, repetitive use of thematic materials suggests a nod toward the Minimalist school, though perhaps a more developed, complex mutation of the dogma. Bream’s presentation let the music stand on its own, smartly, yielding a superb performance.

Opening the program with a particularly interesting set of Renaissance pieces, Bream impressively demonstrated his expertise as a lutanist. His guitar transcription of Bach’s Chaconne from the Violin Partita in D minor proceeded admirably, though not without rough edges. A similarly flawed reading of Granados’ “Valses poeticos” and two brief encores completed the evening.