Utzon Room, Sydney Opera House
November 17, 2017

From his first notes, guitarist Andrew Blanch drew the audience in. Performing a programme titled Guitar Music from Latin America and Beyond in the cosy space of the Sydney Opera House’s Utzon Room, the Sydney-based musician’s sound was soft-edged yet articulate in Heitor Villa-Lobos’ Prelude No 3. This was the kind of sound that invites you to lean forward and listen hard, barely breathing so you don’t miss any details of the subtle shading.

As part of the new Classical Guitar Festival Sydney, Blanch – who made his recording debut just last year – presented a performance spanning works from Latin America to Australia, the guitarist delivering sweet arpeggios and gentle harmonics in Paraguayan guitarist-composer Agustín Barrios Mangore’s Julia Flordia and an easy virtuosity in the composer’s springier Vals No 4.

Andrew BlanchGuitarist Andrew Blanch

Raphael Rabello’s Meu Avô (my grandfather) was a sly dance, Blanch drawing a fine tone from muted bass notes, while the guitarist draw out the lyricism of Rabello’s Sete Cordas (seven chords), originally written with voice as a love song to the guitar.

Blanch rounded out the first half of the programme with...