Reviews and Interviews

Most recently, Mr. Hand was profiled in the respected English publication Classical Guitar in March 2005. The article is available for download (PDF; 1.2MB).

Critic Mark Greenburg writing in the New York City Classical Guitar Society publication had this to say of a concert Mr. Hand gave in New York City in 2004:

Let me say at the outset, that it is impossible for me to imagine anyone playing more beautifully on the guitar--or trying more passionately to communicate with his audience directly and without pretense. Hand has expressed his admiration for Leonard Bernstein because of the immense amount of heart he brought to music. The same could be said of Fred Hand. It is not for nothing that one of his finest albums (and pieces) is called Heartsong.

It is therefore fairly pointless to give a review; Fred Hand--like anybody else I suppose--no doubt has good days and bad days, but he would be the one to tell you about that. He appears to be among those few who can do whatever they want on the guitar--and with the apparent speed of thought.
Beyond this, it must be said that the new work he presented—Sephardic Songs—seems exceptionally fine even for Fred Hand. Here what one wonders is whether anyone else can play it with such grace with its gnarly left-hand, jazz-type chords.