2012 CD release From Spain to Tango is finally out! The CD explores the music of three countries: Spain, Brazil and Argentina. The CD starts with two dances from De Falla’s ballet El Amor Brujo and opera La Vida Breve, works well-known among both guitar and the violin playing communities as an attractive concert showpieces. They are followed by beautiful lullaby-like Andante, originally composed as a second movement of Sonatina in A-major for guitar solo, and famous Asturias, originally written for piano solo. Anacleto de Medeiros, a Brazilian schottische composed as part of Suite Retratos for two guitars, leads to Paulo Bellinati’s Jongo, a dance and musical genre of black communities from southeast Brazil. The CD closes with three tangos by Astor Piazzolla, an Argentine tango composer and bandoneón player who has revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style named “nuevo tango” by incorporating elements from jazz, classical music and traditional tango music.

Track list:

Petar Jankovic’ Leyenda is an incredible recording that features a mix of standard works by Granados, Villa-Lobos, Albeniz, and Tansman, along with more recent additions to the classical guitar repertoire by Merlin and Dyens. Jankovic is a strong personality on the instrument, who possesses his own unique and distinguished style of playing. As one would expect from such a seasoned performer, his interpretations and performances are solid throughout the album.

Jankovic does not fit neatly into the modern idiom of classical guitar perfection; though he does play the pieces with precision, grace, dynamics, and style. Jankovic has a character to his playing that is reminiscent of artists like Segovia or Bream. He performs as if he is conducting an orchestra, bringing every performance to life with his incredible dynamic palette and knowledge of the instrument and its repertoire.

Heitor Villa-Lobos’ “Cinq Preludes” begins the album with Jankovic breathing new life into these oft played pieces with his rhythmic precision, deep sense of expression and obvious admiration for the composer. He manages to avoid playing these pieces too fast, or too slow, which he might have been tempted to do after having played and taught these pieces for many years. It is easy to hear his artistry and mastery of the guitar on these familiar pieces.

“Danza Espanola No. 5″ by Enrique Granados is another one of the many highlights on Leyenda. Jankovics’ personalized approach to the right hand thumb execution can be heard in the opening measures of this piece. Those have seen him perform will know that Jankovic puts his whole arm into the bass notes, giving them an enormous sound that really captures the essence of the guitar with his myriad use of tonal colors. Jankovics’ interpretation of this piece is unique and exciting, providing a new vision of a standard piece.

“Suite del Recuerdo” by Jose Luis Merlin is an example of a newer composition for classical guitar, one that has become a part of the popular repertoire of students and concert guitarists alike. The music itself is strikingly beautiful, with Jankovic giving perhaps the finest interpretation and performance of the opening movement “Evocacion” in recent recorded memory. His interpretation of this suite, alongside the more traditional repertoire, showcases the dexterity of Jankovic’ ability as a performer and his deep knowledge of a wide breadth of the classical guitar anthology.

Jankovic gives an incredible performance on Leyenda with his artistry and individual style putting him in a category with the likes of Segovia and Bream. Jankovic plays with virtuosic precision, grace, expression, and with a unique character to his sound, something that will appeal to both guitarists and non-musicians alike.

With this, his third recording, Serbian guitarist Petar Jankovic shows his highly developed technical and musical skills in a programme of very entertaining and contrasting compositions.

Of particular interest in reviewing this CD was hearing the now unfortunately seemingly neglected beautiful miniature masterwork of Alexandre Tansman, Cavatina, here played with all five movements. Jankovic instills a great deal of passion in this rendition and for this reviewer here is the high point of the programme.

Elsewhere everything is top quality, too this player managing to infuse some of these war-horses with new vigor and outlook. All together a very enjoyable and rewarding new release.

Serbian born classical guitarist Petar Jankovic is one of the finest soloists on the scene today, and he posse’s a unique, artistic, and a highly expressive style. Recently Jankovic has broken new ground and pushed the limits for the classical guitar even further with his announcement of the Petar Jankovic Ensemble, which is a string quartet led by guitar.

Serbian classical guitarist Petar Jankovic is one of the finest soloists on the scene today, and he posse’s a unique, artistic, and a highly expressive style. Recently Jankovic has broken new ground and pushed the limits for the classical guitar even further with his announcement of the Petar Jankovic Ensemble, which is a string quartet led by guitar.

Jankovic has released a promotional DVD to help generate interest in his ensemble which consists of some of the finest students from Indiana University’s esteemed Jacobs School of Music. The DVD captures a dazzling performance of his string quartet performing six pieces from their current repertoire which features composers like Roland Dyens, Radames Gnattali, Astor Piazolla and more.

The Petar Jankovic Ensemble is performing solo guitar pieces that have been arranged for the addition of string quartet, and when you hear these familiar pieces with the addition of strings, it really brings the music to life. It is so refreshing to hear a new take on a few of these pieces, and it sounds so natural as if they were always meant to be played by a string quartet.

Jankovic collaborated on a few of these arrangements with composer Elliot Bark, and they did an incredible job making solo music sound like ensemble music. The orchestrations really add to each piece and truly augment the sound of the guitar and bringing it into full spectrum.

The DVD opens with a lively arrangement of Paulo Bellinatti’s Jongo. The sound is very clear, and the balance between the instruments is perfect. Jankovic performs flawlessly, and the real high point is in the interplay between the violin and the guitar as they take turns playing the melody. The piece culminates with a highly rhythmic and percussive section which helps to showcase the diversity and depth that this group has to offer.

The performance of “Anacleto de Medeiros” by Radames Gnattali sounds like true chamber music. The arrangement is incredible and never does the listener get the impression that the other instruments are there to only support the guitar. The interplay of the string quartet sounds very impressive on this piece, and is executed flawlessly and artistically by all the members.

The stand out track on this promotional DVD is the performance of Astor Piazolla’s “Oblivion”. It is such wonderful music, and Jankovic plays with so much expression that the haunting melody resonates with warm tone. The sound of the strings is perfect and blends so well with the guitar. The addition of string quartet has really helped to push the emotional depths of this music.

The Petar Jankovic Ensemble, which is a string quartet led by classical guitar is a brilliant new group on today’s chamber music scene, and they will no doubt be bringing the music of the guitar to many new fans around the world. The Petar Jankovic Ensemble is an exciting new group that has something to offer both fans of classical music as well as fans of guitar music. Jankovic is a highly expressive and dynamic performer, and he has put a group together which is going to be able to re capture the imagination of the classical guitar and its music.

Leslie Goldberg, Director
Nakamichi Concert Series

Mr. Jankovic is one of the great poets, his voice will continue to speak long after he is gone.”

Terry Cantwell, Guitar Professor
Macon State College

Dr. Jeff Calissi
Assistant Professor of Music
Eastern Connecticut State University

Peter Jacobi, Music Critic
Hoosier Times, Bloomington, IN

From the first sweet sounding melody his guitar played in the Max Noah Recital Hall, he instantly engaged his audience. He then had them hooked until the last note reverberated through the room.
Petar Jankovic, a professor at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, truly puts his soul into music. He displayed his mastery of the classical guitar with a performance of several compositions for GCSU music students, teachers and enthusiasts last Thursday.
The sweet melodic tones he played expressed a broad range of emotions. Each melody had its own story, much like Jankovic.
He began playing guitar at an early age.
“I found my first guitar under the Christmas tree when I was about seven years old,” he said. “It was really only a toy.”
But this toy began his path to study and master many forms of the classical guitar.
“I heard the guitar somewhere and knew that I wanted to study it,” Jankovic said.
Jankovic began his studies at the renowned Music Academy in his home town of Belgrade, Yugoslavia. He earned several awards for his performances, and eventually began to take the first step towards a teaching career when asked to share his musical mastery with other students.
He left Yugoslavia to pursue further education at the Indiana University where he earned an Artist Diploma Degree. He then continued there to teach and has happily stayed at IU while recording and performing.
In his performance at GCSU, Jankovic played a beautiful six-stringed golden Spanish guitar. When asked about how much a similar guitar would cost, he compared it to that of a fine imported car.
Like his guitar, many of the pieces he performed originated from Spanish and Latin culture. These pieces varied from slow sonatas to quick-paced tangos, just as the intensity of sound in each fluctuated.
Jankovic described the fascinating history of one piece, “Libra Sonatine.” He told the audience it was dedicated to the composer’s heart surgeon, and that each of the three movements respectfully represented the time before, during and after surgery. The melodies indeed did have the feel of a heart beating, the sharp sting of the surgery and the return to normalcy.
Freshman Natalie Ricker attended Jankovic’s recital.
“He is a very talented guitarist,” said Ricker. “The style of his music surprised me, but I connected to it because it was unlike anything I had ever heard before.”
During Mr. Jankovic’s performance, the audience’s eyes remained focused on his passionate expressions and his talented hands. Each listener, despite their musical background, understood the depth of his love for music. His dedication should serve as inspiration to students and teachers of music alike.

© Copyright 2009 Colonnade

Rebecca Lanning, Associate Professor of Music
Coordinator of Music
Macon State College

Onnoe Adams
Camerata Musica
Richland, WA

“I would say the relationship with my Guitar is the same as a samurai feels about his sword”, Petar Jankovic says and he means it. Hardly a day goes by without Jankovic performing live and whenever he’s not on stage, he devotes time to his duties as a faculty member of Jacobs School of Music. It may even be that this philosophical stance towards performance and his restless creativity have kept him from recording more albums. For seven years, he focussed on nothing but establishing an outwardly relentless rhythm of touring. Now, however, he is back with new full-length “leyenda” and already plans for a follow-up in the forseable future. Here, Jankovic presents himself as a classical Guitarist with a serious, thoughtful and yet romantic voice, captured perfectly in the nostalgic production of Peter Nichols. Without a single doubt, “leyenda” sticks out, if only for its program, which eschews the downtrodden paths and makes a point of investigating the sidealleys and backyards of the canon, exploring the music of Jose Luis Merlin, Alexandre Tansman and Roland Dyens, among others, while keeping an eye on the grand masters by including Villa-Lobos, Granados and Albeniz. It is a meditative and minimal world he is delineating, but worth every penny investigated in it, inviting listeners to spend their lonely nights and many pensive moments in it. There’s no a gram of excess fat on this album, though which Jankovic’ Guitar cuts like a samurai sword, flying straight towards the heart of the music.

Hi! How are you? Where are you?
Very well, thank you. I am currently in Europe (Belgrade, Serbia). This is where I usually spend my summer months when I am relaxing.

What’s on your schedule right now?
I have a full season schedule ahead of me. I will be playing throughout the United States. Around 50 concerts from September through May. Even though I just released my new CD in April, I am already working on my next album, which I intend to record sometime late next year.

Can you still remember the first time you heard a piece of classical music?
Yes, it was a soundtrack to a movie. It was a documentary about animals. I cannot remember the title, But the soundtrack at one point was Strauss’s Blue Danube Waltz. I was very young, maybe 5 or so, and I remember when the melody developed I sang out so loud that the public in the movie started to clap and laugh. My mother, who took me to the moves, said she was embarrassed and proud at the same time.

What was the deciding moment, which made you want to become an artist?
When I was 15, I was reading Arc de Triomphe by E. M. Remarque, and I was so inspired with the atmosphere in that book that the choice to become the artist was the only one at that time. I had been studying the classical guitar for about 8 years by then and it was the time to decide if I was going to pursue engineering, or music academy. This book, and several others in the same genre, were very decisive factors.

What’s the hardest part about being a musician and what’s the best?
I do not see many hard parts about being musician. Maybe travelling, and being often away from the loved ones? That’s probably the hardest part for me. But, the best part is the opportunity to express and share deep emotions on stage with the audience. I really cherish every moment I have the opportunity to do this. It’s a blessing!

Do you consider it important that more young people care for classical music? If so, how, do you think, could this be achieved?
Absolutely! Maybe the best way is to expose them to it. But, with some education, and at the same time to show them the attractive and fun part attached to it. For example, in addition to an evening performance an all-important aspect of my presentation is establishing an open dialogue with your community, especially kids; therefore, I usually offer some type of a lecture-demonstration for kids in local schools. I believe that this type of interaction enhances their understanding and appreciation of the artist’s work and hence builds a stronger relationship with the artist and classical music.

How would you rate the importance of the internet and new media for classical music?
As important as it is for any other type of music! Of course, the big problem with classical music and young generations is that classical music is not presented to them early enough, but also it is not presented to them in the same fashion as other styles. For example, teenagers do not sing classical melodies when showering, or walking, or playing. But they should! No reason why not. The melodies are very pretty. What I want to say, is this: Classical music has this distant- high class -noble veil around it. And that is not particularly appealing to the teenagers. It should be demystified and simplified for the young. I think they would appreciate it much more that way. Therefore, the internet and electronic media can play a big role in it.

With so many different recordings of a particular piece available – how do you keep yours fresh and different?
I do not really try intentionally to make it fresh or different. What happens is that I internalize every piece I play. I try to live through it; attaching my emotions and thoughts to it. Through this kind of very deep and personal filtering, the interpretation of a piece reflects my personality and my emotions. So, it becomes fresh and different by the virtue of this process: of becoming one with a piece of music.

What constitutes a good live performance in your opinion? What’s your approach to performing on stage?
In my opinion a good live performance requires intense and expressive communication with the audience through the music. An audience should feel inspired after the concert. To achieve this, I invest my entire energy and a whole palette of deepest emotions on stage, and I share them openly with the public. They feel it and they react. They become attentive even to the smallest nuances that I iclude in the music in a performance like this. That’s my approach.

What does the word “interpretation” mean to you?
For me, it means internalization of a given composition. When the artist become one with the piece of music, then he interprets it in the most honest way. Actually he uses the composition as a vehicle to deliver his way of thinking and feeling.

How do you balance the need to put your personal emotions into the music you play and the intentions of the composer?
Intentions of the composer, or we can also say “proper style of playing” for a particular composition is a set framework within which I operate. It’s like giving a title and very basic guidelines to the writer, and then ask him to write a story. He has to follow the title and guidelines, but he uses his imagination, experience and emotions to write a very unique and personal story. I feel like this writer.

What’s your view on the relationship between musical education and classical music?
I believe musical education should be applied only through classical music. I feel they should be very much interlaced.

You are given the position of artistic director of a concert hall. What would be on your program for this season?
This a difficult question that requires a longer answer. It poses the same dilemma when I choose my own program. To try to answer it shortly: I would certainly first analyze and study the community, and see what they want to hear. Then, I would see what I think they should hear, and then I would balance it, so it has both parts well related and well paced throughout the season. Putting a successful program, or a season is a difficult task. It requires a lot of trying, testing, and studying. What you need to do is to combine what people expect to hear with the new and progressive (in my opinion as the artist or director) compositions that change the taste and direction of the public in the proper way (again in my opinion).

How would you describe the relationship with your instrument?
Very intense. My guitar (Fleta) inspires me to become a better artist. It’s almost like a living being. I would even go as far to say that the relationship is the same as a samurai feels about his sword. It’s very philosophical.

Have you ever tried playing a different instrument? If yes, how good were you at it?
Not really. I was always focused on a classical guitar. I started as a kid (at age of 7). I played a little bit in a local garage band (electric base), but that was only a short flint with rock.

Steve Marsh
Classical Guitar Magazine

Reverberating sounds of a guitar were all that could be heard in Michelsen Hall Tuesday evening, as Petar Jankovic plucked at his six-string.
Stories were communicated from the artist to his audience through expressive renditions from a handful of the greatest musical masterpieces ever written.
The classical guitarist, a native of Yugoslovia, began his musical career at the age of seven. He doesn’t remember exactly what prompted his desire to play, just that he was born to do so.
Eventually, Jankovic developed his art at the Music Academy in Belgrade. Afterward, he continued his education, earning a master’s degree from Indiana University School of Music, where he stayed and launched a teaching career.
A wide range of styles were evident throughout the hour that he played. The majority of classical guitar music stems from South America and Spain, he said.
“I play all styles with classical guitar,” Jankovic said. “I prefer to play from romantic and contemporary periods.”
He feels the most inspired while performing on a concert stage and is content with practicing in any area, from hotel rooms to office spaces or wherever there are “the least distractions you can have.”
His technique was flawless, and he played with great ease. The staccatos, scale runs and vibrato action added to his sensational narrative performance.
Brock Wojtalewicz, an English as a second language instructor, brought twelve of his students to the performance. He wanted to introduce them to something out of the ordinary.
“It was quite amazing,” he said. “I was truly impressed.”
Jankovic has acquired numerous prestigious awards throughout his career and is known all over the world for his beautiful art.
The preludes of Heitor Villa-Lobos and the tangos of Astor Piazzolla were played. The “Libra Sonatine” by Roland Dyens had been written for the composer’s heart surgeon with each movement representing the emotions had before, during and after surgery, explained Jankovic before he gave his artistic interpretation.
“It’s really wonderful that we have artists of this caliber coming to UW-SP,” Wojtalewicz said. “I think our community is really fortunate.”

Cheers,
Lance Beaumont
Assistant Professor of Music
Howard Payne University
Brownwood, TX

Maestro Daniel Domnick
Music Director and Conductor
Sherman Symphony Orchestra

Harvey Hess, Critic
Wartburg Symphony