In 1862, the famous Spanish luthier Antonio de Torres created a guitar with back and sides of papier-mâché. In the 21st century, the Italian guitarist Federica Artuso recorded the album called Papier-Mâché where she plays on replicas of the Torres guitar built by Fabio Zontini. I learned about this from the Radio Clásica programme La guitarra de papel (broadcast on 16 January 2026).
From the above album, Milonguea del ayer by the Argentine composer and guitarist Abel Fleury.
...is Ave Maria often (mis)attributed to Giulio Caccini (1551—1618). In fact it was composed by the Soviet musician Vladimir Vavilov (1925—1973) and first appeared on his 1970 LP «Лютневая музыка XVI—XVII вв.» (Lute music of the 16th–17th centuries)*. There, Ave Maria was performed by Nadezhda Vainer (vocal), Mark Shakhin (organ), and Vavilov himself (lute) and was ascribed to a "16th-century anonymous author". In 1975, Ave Maria appeared on the album Старинные Арии by Irina Bogacheva where it was attributed to Caccini.
Since then, the aria became enormously popular and has been performed by artists such as Irina Arkhipova, Sumi Jo, Andrea Bocelli, Julian Lloyd Webber, Libera, KOKIA, Amira Willighagen... I leave you with the instrumental version by Oiasso Kamerata (Irún, Spain) featuring Rebekka Riedel (cello).
| * | This record was a brilliant musical mystification: apart from Greensleeves and Galliard, all the tracks were composed by Vavilov. For example, the opener, Canzona, was ascribed to Francesco da Milano (1497—1543). In the 1980s, this song, as «Город золотой», with lyrics by Alexei Khvostenko and Anri Volokhonsky, was recorded by Aquarium and became one of their biggest hits. |
...is Cançó No. 6 (Canción No. 6) by the Catalan composer Federico Mompou, from the cycle Cançons i danses. Originally written for piano, it was a favourite encore of Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. This song appears in the 1976 film Cría Cuervos by Carlos Saura. I liked the classical guitar version as played by the Scottish guitarist Sean Shibe in the recent (12 December 2025) Tiny Desk Concert.
...is La Huella del Códice, based on works by Santiago de Murcia (1673–1739) and performed by Berta Rojas with Evangelina Mascardi and Lincoln Almada. This composition appears on the Paraguayan guitarist's new album, La Huella de las Cuerdas. And if you have 33 minutes to spare, watch the "making of" documentary by the same name.
Evangelina Mascardi: vihuela / baroque guitar Lincoln Almada: percussion |
...is Pablo de Sarasate's masterpiece Zigeunerweisen (Aires gitanos) performed by María Dueñas (violin) and Robert Kulek (piano).
...is Danzón n.º 2 by Arturo Márquez, as interpreted by the great Yuja Wang.
...is Adagio in G minor by Remo Giazotto (not by Albinoni!) as performed by María López (hurdy-gurdy, piano). This composition appears on the Galician multi-instrumentalist's new album Daydreaming.
...is Pequeña Fuga y Mambo by the Rayko León quintet and Carlos Alemán. This song appears on the Canarian pianist's 2021 album En clave de rumBach.
Osvaldo Hernández: timbales Rayko León: piano Wichy López: trumpet, flugelhorn Fofi Lusson: double bass Alberto Valdés: congas, güiro |
...is Dear Paco (Cepa Andaluza) performed by Maureen Choi Quartet featuring Maureen Choi (violin), Mario Carrillo (double bass), Daniel García Diego (piano) and Michael Olivera (drums). This composition appears on the band's 2019 album Theia.
...is Guanabacoa by Ana Carla Maza Quartet.
Fidel Fournneyron: trombone Ana Carla Maza: cello, vocal Vincent Peirani: accordion |
...is majestic Finisterrae by Amaya López-Carromero aka Maud the Moth, from the Edinburgh-based pianist and singer-songwriter's album Orphnē. Tonight I had a pleasure to see Amaya performing live at Teatro CASYC, Santander.
...is Carta de Despedida by Pablo Rodríguez and Humberto Ríos, from Canarian-Cuban duo 2019 album Conversaciones.
This version of the Harpsichord Concerto No. 5 in F minor (BWV 1056) by Johann Sebastian Bach was performed by Iñaki Antón of Extremoduro and Symphonic Orchestra of Gran Canaria during the 5th International Bach Festival in Teatro Pérez Galdós on 20 April 2019.
...is Mambo from Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story performed by Katia and Marielle Labèque (pianos), Raphaël Séguinier (drums) and Gonzalo Grau (percussion).
Francisco Sánchez Gómez, better known as Paco de Lucía, the greatest flamenco guitarist of all time, died this morning aged 66.
Adagio from Concierto de Aranjuez by Joaquín Rodrigo, performed by Paco de Lucía with Orquestra de Cadaqués in 1991.
...is Un Día de Noviembre by Leo Brouwer, performed by the Hungarian guitarist Zsófia Boros. It appears on her new album of contemporary guitar classics, En otra parte.
This week, time for some modern classical music: Preludio y Merengue written by Cuban-born jazz saxophonist and clarinetist Paquito D'Rivera. This composition appears on Riberas, his collaboration with Cuarteto de Cuerdas Buenos Aires.
...is Danza from La vida breve by Manuel de Falla, performed by the great Paco de Lucía.
El pueblo unido jamás será vencido was written by Sergio Ortega and Quilapayún just a couple months before the September 11, 1973 Chilean military coup. The best-known song of Ortega, it became an anthem of popular resistance worldwide. The song also inspired modern composers and jazzmen, such as Frederic Rzewski (36 piano variations) and Charlie Haden (The People United Will Never Be Defeated from The Ballad of the Fallen).
De pie, cantar(Complete lyrics) |
