Two years after his visit to the International Music Festival of the Canary Islands, the guitarist Pablo Sainz-Villegas will return to the Canary Islands. This time, the musician will do so on a solo tour of the stages of all the islands. The musical events will take place between January 21 and 31, where the public "will be able to enjoy the mastery and talent of an artist who has become an authentic ambassador of the Spanish guitar around the world."
The guitarist Pablo Sainz-Villegas will perform at the end of this month of January in Lanzarote and La Graciosa. The event will take place on January 30 at the Santo Domingo de Teguise Convent, while on Friday the 31st he will perform at the Inocencia Páez Cultural Center on the eighth island. This artist interprets musical gems by authors such as Villa-Lobos, Turina, Albéniz or Bach, as well as the premiere of the work commissioned by the festival to Miguel Ángel Linares.
The tour begins on Tuesday, January 21 at the Pérez Galdós Theater in Gran Canaria; and will continue on the 23rd at the Leal Theater of La Laguna, in Tenerife; on the 25th at the Benahoarita Museum of Los Llanos de Aridane, in La Palma and on the 26th at the Valle Gran Rey Cultural Center, in La Gomera. On Monday, January 27, he will be at the Asabanos Cultural House in El Hierro; on the 29th at the Antigua Auditorium, in Fuerteventura. All concerts will take place at 8:00 p.m.
Tickets are available on the usual platforms of these stages and also from the web
The most international Spanish guitar
Pablo Sáinz Villegas is one of the classical guitarists with the most international projection. He is considered a representative of Spanish culture and many speak of him as the successor of the emblematic musician Andrés Segovia. Moreover, he was the first guitarist to play at Carnegie Hall in New York since his predecessor did so in 1983; but he has also been the first to accompany the Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 2001 and the Berliner Philharmoniker, in the New Year's Concert, since 1983.
Plácido Domingo himself, with whom Sainz Villegas has had the privilege of collaborating on the duet album 'Volver', refers to him as "the master of the Spanish guitar". And it is not something circumstantial, as his guitar has been heard in more than 40 countries around the world and has managed to gather more than 85,000 people in the Santiago Bernabéu stadium in Madrid, among many other massive events.
A journey through the literature of the guitar
For the International Music Festival of the Canary Islands, he has prepared a tour through different styles, periods and techniques of classical guitar. A program in which scores by the great architects of this instrument will be heard, but also other classics with arrangements created by the interpreter himself.
The concert begins with '5 Préludes', by Héctor Villa-Lobos, a work composed in 1940 that combines elements of the European classical tradition with elements of Brazilian folklore. The interesting thing is that each of these five fragments (two in the non-capital islands) manage to reflect different dimensions of Brazilian culture, encompassing both its indigenous spirit and its most urban essence.
It will continue with the premiere of Linares' work Redoblaré, which, according to the composer himself, "is born from the interest that musical forms of the past have always aroused in me. Structures such as the passacaglia and the chaconne, the fugue or the theme with variations are present, in one way or another, in my musical production".
Chaconne BMW 1004, by Johann Sebastian Bach, will be next, a work originally created for violin that has gone down in history as one of the most famous pieces by the Baroque composer. Although the guitarist himself has made the necessary arrangements to perform it with his guitar, the work maintains its original spirit and reaches new heights of expressiveness in the hands of Sainz Villegas.
The repertoire continues with one of his great references of the Spanish legacy, Joaquín Turina and his work Sevillana. It is, in essence, a short composition with a great melodic character that captures the inherence of Andalusia and its most popular guitar sounds. In addition, the public of the capital islands will be able to listen to the piece Aire, by the Valencian Francisco Coll, which explores the possibilities of the guitar with a more modern approach, and refers to elements such as the flow of the wind and nature itself.
It will be followed by A Dream in the Floresta' by the Paraguayan Agustín Barrios Mangoré, especially known for the hypnotic effect that the instrument achieves and for its way of transporting listeners to the very jungle that inspired the composer in his day.
The concert will end with the music of the Spanish composer who can never be missing in a guitar program, Isaac Albéniz and his work Asturias, which belongs to the Spanish Suite (OP. 47, NO.5). Although it was originally written for piano, its transcription has become very popular in the repertoire for classical guitar. It is a creation that captivates for its way of combining the most flamenco soul with traditional and rhythmic elements of northern Spain.