Review: Volterra Project Trio Explores Drama and Dialogue on ‘Parole in Musica’

Trios are relatively rare in the classical guitar world, which is too bad, because they’re a lot of fun to listen to and exciting to see in live performance. One of the best contemporary outfits is the Volterra Project Trio, spearheaded by the highly respected veteran virtuoso and teacher Antigoni Goni. A native of Greece, she has been a popular touring artist since the early 1990s, when she won the coveted Guitar Foundation of America competition, and for many years she has also concentrated on teaching at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels and leading a popular and prestigious program in Tuscany called the Volterra Project Summer Guitar Institute. 

Indeed, the other two members of the Volterra Project Trio are former participants in that Italian workshop: Italian guitarist Luca Isolani also studied with Goni in Belgium, where he, too, now teaches; and Maarten Vandenbemden is another faculty member at the Royal Conservatory and an active performer in various chamber ensembles.

The title Parole in Musica literally translates from Italian as Words in Music, which is appropriate, as the source material primarily derives from works inspired by plays, stories, or films. The real standout here, for me, is a five-part “suite” from Leonard Bernstein’s score for the Broadway musical West Side Story, brilliantly arranged for guitar trio by Vandenbemden (who is responsible for most of the arrangements on the album). As someone who grew up in a household where the soundtrack album was frequently played, I marvel at how the trio captures the back-and-forth of the show’s singers on a tune like the zippy “America.” And the ballad “Maria” is as much an emotional tour de force as it was onstage and in the fabulous 1961 film.

That modern suite, so influenced by Latin rhythms and culture, couldn’t be further away in mood and style from Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg’s incidental music for Henrik Ibsen’s 1876 play, Peer Gynt, based on an old folk tale and featuring such familiar movements as “Arabian Dance” and “Dance of the Mountain King’s Daughter.” Similarly, a set of short pieces written in 1910 for piano by French composer Maurice Ravel was inspired by Mother Goose fables (Ma mère l’Oye in French) and offers a range of styles, from folkish melodies to a Chinese-themed movement and beyond. 

Throughout the program, all three guitarists step to the forefront at various points and also engage in subtle musical conversation. Also notable is a fine original piece by the VPT’s own Luca Isolani that pays tribute to the great Italian film composer Nino Rota.

As for the wonderful-sounding guitars heard throughout, Goni tells us: “I am playing my 1989 Romanillos in the center of the recording spread, with Luca on the left playing a 2019 Paolo Coriani, and Maarten playing a 2016 Oren Myers on the right.” The splendid recording is by the incomparable John Taylor, one of the very best engineers in the classical guitar world.