Cambridge-based guitarist Daniela Rossi to perform pieces written for her by composer Dušan Bogdanovic
Acclaimed Cambridge-based classical guitarist Daniela Rossi is to perform in person three pieces written especially for her by one of her musical heroes, Serbian-AmericanSwiss composer Dušan Bogdanovic.
Daniela, who hails from Argentina (she studied at the Conservatory of Bahía Blanca, her hometown), will also be treating the audience at Impington Village College this Friday (March 4) to some works by English composer John Duarte and will be sharing the stage with Kevin Loh, an up-and-coming talent from Singapore.
Kevin will be playing a work by Bach and the pair will finish the concert with some duets.
Explaining how he came to write for Daniela, Dušan – speaking to the Cambridge Independent from his home in Geneva, Switzerland – says: “Daniela was playing my music already and I saw that she played my Sonata no 1 in four movements, which is really a difficult piece...
“Her professor, Eduardo Isaac from Argentina, recorded this piece first – it’s actually the first recording of this piece. I think that Daniela heard him play it or whatever; in any case she found out about this piece and she recorded it, made a video and played it.”
Daniela notes that she played it “everywhere” for about four years. “I’ve seen her play this and I was just so impressed at how well she played it, with so much expression and temperament,” says Dušan. “It’s a hard piece; I’ve never actually played it entirely! I just thought, ‘I’m waiting for a virtuoso or somebody who can really play it’ – I’m primarily a composer.”
Dušan continues: “When I saw that she was playing this so beautifully and so well, I decided to write this piece for her, and actually before that we met in Spain [in summer 2021] at the Francisco Tárrega International Guitar Competition. I was on the jury and so again had the opportunity to hear her play, so I was inspired to write something.”
The piece he was inspired to write is called Rossignol, named after Daniela and also the French word for nightingale. “So I sent it to her and then she was just very hard-working and she recorded it and played it.”
Daniela, who kept busy during lockdown by performing online concerts, is understandably flattered to have a piece written especially for her. “To have a piece written by one of your heroes is like a dream, it’s amazing – it’s a huge honour,” she says. Daniela has been a fan of Dušan’s music since she was a teenager.
One of the other pieces Dušan wrote for Daniela is a take on the Billie Holiday ballad God Bless the Child. “Actually that was a great challenge for me because although I listen to jazz and I listen to blues, it’s not something I was very accustomed to playing at all,” admits Daniela.
Dušan notes: “My idea was to help Daniela to get a little bit more into other idioms, play something more in the style of blues and jazz – so that was another aspect of this.”
The final piece Dušan wrote for Daniela is called Winter Variations. “The plan is to record a CD with just pieces by Dušan,” reveals Daniela.
Daniela Rossi will be appearing with Kevin Loh in the Brackenbury Room at Impington Village College this Friday (March 4). For tickets, visit https://bit.ly/36GVFOl. For more on Daniela, go to danielarossiguitarist.com.
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