Klara Tomljanovič - New Guitar Works (2023) Hi-Res

It all seems quite manageable: a classical concert guitar weighs little and can be taken anywhere, quickly ready to play, casually propped on your knee. Additional equipment such as bows or chin rests etc.: unnecessary. The volume and range of the sound are limited, hence the ability of the instrumentalists to perform in front of a large audience or in collaboration. One suspects that “classical” guitarists are more self-absorbed. Your own ear, close to the instrument, receives musical events, which you produce with the sensitive accuracy of meticulously coordinated finger movements with as little noise as possible and as briefly flashing, delicate, fleeting sounds.

Well – we probably have to forget what you have read up to this point. Because this collection of new works sets out to prove something like the opposite. It's about strength. About physical borderline experiences and about a sound spectrum that is always puzzling as to how it arises in and with the guitar. In fact, all of the compositions recorded here are sounds created by a player with a guitar. Live electronics or similar are, even if one might occasionally think so, not involved, just one or two mechanical aids to expand the usual guitar technology.

Klara Tomljanovič knows all the composers involved, some for many years. Perhaps it is the relationship of trust that arises from this that makes this challenging differentness of the guitar possible. In addition, there was an enduring commitment - on the part of the interpreter and the composer: the musician lent an instrument from her own collection to the non-guitarist on a long-term basis and, in joint tryouts, her own playing options, which had developed over decades. Perhaps both fueled the sometimes breakneck desire to experiment. Paradoxical or not: What started with the soloist's personal skills and playing techniques as well as her physical conditions ultimately led to an immense expansion of these.