Sublime magic from a master of the guitar

Published on Monday 3 September 2007 12:08

John Williams ****

Queen's Hall

"Good morning," begins John Williams, before pausing: "I can't remember the last time I said 'Good morning' before playing, except to the dog at home."

In spite of the oddly early start, a packed Queen's Hall was about to be treated to the Edinburgh leg of a wonderful world tour by one of classical guitar's greatest living exponents.

One of the most popular, well-known and biggest-selling artists in his field, Williams has an unassuming and disarming presence on stage.

Paying tribute to the composers of his chosen pieces and adding a few introductory comments as background, his lack of ego means he puts the music first.

The first half began with a trio of Italian Dominico Scarlatti's eighteenth century sonatas, at times evoking the harpsichord for which Scarlatti composed. A suite of Isaac Albeniz pieces followed, before Carlo Dominiconi's Koyunbaba brought us to the modern era with passages of supreme beauty based on an unusual tuning.

The second half consisted of an all-modern but varied set. Blending Stephen Dodgson's Fantasy-Divisions, written for Williams in 1969, Peter Sculthorpe's Djilile, and some favourite Venezualan pieces, it was the four works by Williams himself, including Song without Words and Hello Francis, which particularly impressed.

With these pieces, seated alone and spotlit in spite of the daylight bathing the old auditorium, Williams created a range of sound and feeling that verged on the magical.