Offering no further justification up top other than the mere fact that “magician” and “musician” sound similar, Rafael Benatar combined the two disciplines with skill, if not grace, in Compositions. Nearly as adept with a baroque guitar or lute as with a deck of cards, Benatar effectively performed two disparate shows: one a fun, crowd-pleasing string of illusions and the other a contemplative display of nimble fingerpicking that intermittently ground the momentum to a halt. It was a jarring enough transition that when Benatar sat down to pluck a few tunes after first performing a couple of tricks, audible snores could be heard from somewhere in the audience during the quieter moments.
Building nicely from simpler tricks employing handkerchiefs and cards to more baffling stunners that may or may not have involved witchcraft, the magic portions of the show were enthralling for the most part. As he called audience members to the stage, Benatar showcased a nice comic rapport with each of them. He has the kind of inscrutable face and deadpan demeanor that work well in the field, at one point countering a young girl who had just told him her age with, “I was nine when I was your age too.” At times, though, he did have a tendency to perform variations on the same trick that belaboured what he had already accomplished.
Alternating regularly between magic and music, there couldn’t help but be a slight sense of disappointment whenever Benatar sat down on a couch and picked up the baroque guitar or lute. Playing songs largely by 17th-century composer Robert de Visée, the abrupt shift in tone managed to suck the energy out of a room that was eagerly anticipating more tricks. It was hard not to expect him to perhaps transform the guitar into a rabbit or a dove at any moment. Not to dismiss Benatar’s obvious talent, as his complex runs along the fretboard were worthy of praise, but he did strike a few “dead” notes occasionally and soldiered through some tuning issues with his lute. Watching someone who seemed at times to be able to manipulate people’s minds fiddle with the tuning keys broke whatever spell had been cast, like watching a rocket scientist struggle to open a pudding cup.