Francisco Tárrega – Six String Journal

Artist Spotlight and Interview: Patrik Kleemola

Published on December 1, 2024 by Leo GarciaLeave a comment

Hailing from Finland, guitarist virtuoso Patrik Kleemola recently sat down with Six String Journal to share some insight about his artistry and his journey with music. An active performer, educator, and chamber musician, Patrik is immersed in many projects, from recording whole cycles of etudes to concerts dedicated to one composer. His wonderful YouTube channel highlights his affinity for 19th century music; all performed on exquisite period instruments. His recordings of guitar repertoire across the centuries are wide-ranging though and are just as magically musical and engaging. Hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did.

PERSONAL
When did you start playing and why? Or, what drew you to the guitar initially?
There was my father’s semi-acoustic guitar in our house while I was growing up and before I entered for the guitar lessons in the city of Valkeakoski’s Music institute I knew some basic chords and how to play the main riff of Roy Orbison’s Pretty Woman. My grandfather from my mother’s side was in his youth an accordion player playing gigs professionally around the time of the 2nd World War and the war between Finland and Russia. Otherwise I’m the first professional musician in the family.

What repertoire do you enjoy playing the most?
To me probably the best thing in being “a classical musician” is the great variety of styles throughout the centuries and having a chance to dig in deep to the different styles, musical langueages and the culture. Whether it’s the French baroque style of Lully and De Visée, playing early romantic guitar repertoire by Sor and his contemporaries with an original Lacote guitar, playing Tárrega transcriptions of the great romantic piano literature or commissioning myself new pieces from contemporary composers, the great variety is the most rewarding thing.

What guitar or guitars do you perform on? Strings?
This past summer was a special one as I performed many concerts on an original René Lacote (1839) and Jose Luis Romanillos (1979). With Lacote I have done already some video recordings on my YouTube channel (more coming soon!) and I’m looking forward to do new recordings with Romanillos in 2025 and share those with followers of my channel. I also have played for ten years with a Rinaldo Vacca guitar made for me in 2014 and with this I have done many recordings and concerts. I have played a long time with Savarez strings and also have had a good experiences with Thomastik trebles which I use regularly. When playing with Lacote one has to be well aware of the maximum tensions of different strings in order to use them safely on the guitar. I usually use Ambra 800 by Aquila strings on my Lacote. I also try to experiment with gut strings but it’s challenging when playing with nails. However in the early 19th century many played with nails including Aguado, so it should be possible so I keep searching for the best gut strings that work with nail-playing.

Which guitarists/musicians have had the most influence on you?
In my early teens the Julian Bream’s Guitarra video series was a fascinating documentary on the history of the Spanish guitar with passionate and colourful performances by Bream through-out the series. Later on the many great pianists such as Arrau, Cherkassky and Lupu interpretating the incredible repertoire written for piano have been an inspiration. Although now as I have been more involved in the research of the early 19th century guitar repertoire, its technique and general approach, I have realized that the improvisational approach and ornamenting the repeats, for example, have been a vital part of the performance practice of the musicians at the time. In general these great pianists, as prime examples of the great musicians of the last century, didn’t dare to touch the “sacred texts” of the great composers. However this wasn’t the way Liszt, Hummel or Sor approached their performances in the early 19th century. I try get closer to this early 19th century tradition although I feel I’m still in the beginning of the journey.

What recording(s) are you most proud of?
There are two CD solo recital recordings that I did on the works that I commissioned from the Finnish and Italian composers Perchitarrasola (2012) and Through Green Glass (2015) by Pilfink Records and I’ve also been on other commercial recordings as well. The change in record business industry during the last decade have made me, and many other musicians, to think the reason to put out new commercial recordings. In the meanwhile I’ve released many video recordings on my

YouTube channel including series of pedagogic guitar literature including the complete set of Estudios sencillos by Leo Brouwer, 25 Studies by Carcassi, Sor studies op. 6 and op.35 and selection of 12 Studies by Aguado. During the COVID-19 period I did 18 works by Tárrega, a Baroque selection and rarely performed Sor masterpieces played on Louis Panormo (1838) guitar. I’ve done recordings of Sor duos with my former teacher Timo Korhonen. As an artist I think it’s important to document one’s activity (commercially or not) and the YouTube channel has now over 7000 subscribers so it has gained some following.

What are some up-and-coming projects (recordings, concerts) you are excited about?
I’m going to do more Sor recordings on my René Lacote (1839) and later on I will include also other composers from the period. Looking forward to record some of the great 20th century repertoire on the Romanillos in 2025. All these I will be released on the YouTube channel, free for everyone.

The past Autumn has been very hectic with concerts of different programs including solo recitals, chamber music with strings, Concerto by the great Finnish composer Mikko Heiniö for guitar and choir and premieres of contemporary music. Besides playing a lot in Finland I’ll be playing in Italy in December and returning there in March to play in Rome which follows concerts in Germany and Japan. There will be other concerts abroad as well to be confirmed so 2025 will be internationally quite active year for me.

I’m also going to start performing “Soirée Sor” concerts with my Lacote in 2025. Focusing a whole concert to just one composer will be an interesting challenge for me. I’ll be playing works by Fernando Sor from the early Spanish period to the last ones written in Paris. I’ll also talk about the incredible life of this fascinating composer which indeed had it’s dramatic turns, more than once.

TECHNIQUE AND PERFORMANCE
How much do you practice? And do you structure your practice in any particular way?
Some hours everyday, more or less. At the moment I’ve one year scholarship from the Finnish State so I have one year off from the Turku Conservatory where I work as a lecturer. This means I don’t have to teach so much, so I’ve even more time to expand my repertoire, be active on chamber music and playing concerts. I also try to give some time in my practice sessions to focus on refining the technique. There’s almost always some work I’ve commissioned from a composer so I’m active working with them which is very inspiring, trying to find out technical and musical solutions to textures that are not written by a guitarist.

Do you deliberately memorize music or have a technique that helps assimilate music into
memory?
I still strive to play pieces by heart when playing solo recitals although expecially with contemporary works the score is sometimes needed. I don’t trust just to the muscle memory when memorizings works. If I can play the whole piece in my head without the instrument (concentrating mostly to the left hand movements), I’m confident playing the work in public.

Have you published any editions or do you plan to publish your own editions in the future?
I’ve been very involved in the prepration of the published works that I’ve commissioned from the composers from the pedagogic literature to solo works, chamber music and concertos. If it’s pedagogic literature (like Etudes by Markku Klami, see the YouTube playlist) then it’s good to have more fingerings in the score. If it’s very demanding contemporary work, then it’s probably approached only by professionals and these cases the less is more when it comes to fingerings.

I have done arrangements of works by Tsaikovski, Sibelius, Satie, Bach and others. I’m thinking to publish these, hopefully soon, with video performances on my YouTube channel.

Do you have a favorite drill or set of exercises you use to warm up?
I have certain patterns for both hands taking from here and there that I do if I have just 20 minutes for warming up. If I have more time I might take some of the many technique books I have and do something from there just for the fun of it.

Do you have any pre-concert rituals?
The rest is very important so I try have good amount of sleep the night before. I like to have a proper warm-up session on the concert day. I might go through the program during the day, but very lightly and not necessarely all of it. Usually I try to work quite hard the day(s) before and then just let it happen on the concert day.

ADVICE TO YOUNGER PLAYERS
What single most important piece of advice about practicing would you offer to younger
aspiring players?
Playing guitar is work of a long-distance runner. The talent is not enough and it’s also a talent to be able to work consistently and regularly.

What repertoire do you consider essential for young/conservatory students to assimilate?
I think in the early 19th century repertoire there are the main technical things that one needs in playing the guitar. However from my experience as a teacher it’s not always the most inspiring material for the young students. Also reading music on the guitar is not the easiest task for young students and often this is also slowing things down. So good mixture of interesting repertoire from the classical tradition and new pedagogic literature that perhaps reflects more closely the music kids hear in their everyday life.

Are you accessible as a teacher?
I teach as a lecturer in the Turku Conservatory and I’m available also for lessons online, although the latter I have to do according to my schedules which varies quite a bit.

TANGENT
What is the last book that you read? Favorite author/s?
I just ended Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. As I’ve been recently doing a research on Sor and the early 19th century guitar, it has inspired me to read a few books by the early 19th century French authors such as Balzac and Flaubert. Often music that I’m working open doors to choose the literature. Finnish composer Harri Suilamo wrote for me recently two guitar works inspired by the Austrian author Thomas Bernhard and I ended up reading a few books of this fascinating contemporary author.

What is your favorite way to spend time when not practicing?
Spending time with my family including our six-year-old son who is such an light of the day.

Mateusz Kowalski plays Bach, Tárrega, and Ravel

Published on December 29, 2022 by Leo GarciaLeave a comment

Brilliant rising star of the guitar world, Mateusz Kowalski, just released a magical rendition of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Sheep May Safely Graze from Cantata, BWV208 and is about to release two wonderfully produced videos to bring in the New Year. Six String Journal is offering a preview here as a short recital to inspire those New Year resolutions.

In case you missed it, here is Six String Journal’s Interview and Artist Profile with Mateusz.

Enjoy!

Johann Sebastian Bach Sheep May Safely Graze from Cantata, BWV208

Francisco Tárrega Recuerdos de la Alhambra

Maurice Ravel Pavane pour une infante défunte

Leo García plays Tárrega’s Recuerdos de la Alhambra

Published on October 19, 2020 by Leo GarciaLeave a comment

Here is a recent home recording I did at the end of a practice day last week. The songs I have been revisiting these last six months all have the theme of conjuring places far away – in both geography and time. The great Spanish guitarist, Francisco Tárrega’s (1852-1909) wonderful tremolo piece, Recuerdos de la Alhambra, is magical in so many ways. It conjures the great fortress overlooking Granada with the illusion of a sung melody and it reminds me of its infinite mosaics, fountains, streams, and trickles of water echoing everywhere throughout.

Enjoy.

Resources:

Recuerdos Study Score

Mastering Tremolo for Classical Guitar

Spanish Virtuoso Rafael Aguirre’s Tremolo Tips

Published on June 23, 2020 by Leo GarciaLeave a comment

Spanish virtuoso Rafael Aguirre just shared five useful tips for improving your tremolo technique.

Rafael discusses and demonstrates these five key points:

Study tremolo as if it were not tremolo.
Work on retaining consistent tone and color from each note.
Make your tremolo sing.
Make sure each finger maintains equal proximity to the strings after plucking.
Don’t let the thumb stroke displace your hand position.

Check out Rafael’s Six String Journal Interview for more brilliant insight from one of Spain’s finest guitarists.

Artist Profile and Interview: Mateusz Kowalski

Published on June 1, 2020 by Leo Garcia5 Comments

When the words “spectacular” and “breathtaking” pop out in a review by Classical Guitar Magazine, there is something special afoot. It so happened that the review was for Mateusz Kowalski’s brilliant performance among brilliant performers during the EuroStrings Competition in London last year. He took first place. Mateusz’s playing evokes such a wide range of emotions – joy, melancholy, nostalgia, excitement, and I am ashamed to admit it as a fellow guitarist, envy is in there, too. His interpretations are alive with imagination and intuition and it is clear that he possesses absolute control of his fingers. His videos are binge-worthy if you have the time.

Mateusz recently sat down to share some insight with Six String Journal readers about his philosophies and his journey so far. Enjoy.

Personal

When did you start playing and why? Or, what drew you to the guitar initially?

I started to play when I was six. My older brother and cousin played the guitar, mainly rock and metal music. I wanted to be like them and play the guitar too. In addition, my mother worked in the office of the local philharmonic, so I had a constant contact with musicians, I could hear them practicing, rehearsing and performing.

What repertoire do you enjoy playing the most?

I enjoy playing pieces which leave some space for the performer to show their personality through them. For me, it doesn’t matter which period does the piece come from. I find all the musical languages (styles of different epochs) to be interesting, effective and beautiful.

It’s also important for me to make every piece I play personal, I always try to put my feelings, my experiences into the interpretation. My aim is to never play “empty” notes.

What guitar or guitars do you perform on? Strings?

I have two guitars I use on regular basis: 2015 Karl-Heinz Roemmich Model Exquisite Spruce Top and 2017 Sakurai Masaki Model Mastro RF Spruce Top. I string them with Savarez Cantiga Premium Basses, 3rd & 2nd Alliance and 1st New Crystal. All Normal Tension.

Which guitarists/musicians have had the most influence on you?

Among musicians who have influenced me the most, I find my two guitar teachers to be the most important. Dariusz Schmidt taught me for 12 years and then Ryszard Bałauszko taught me for 5 years after that. They showed my the musical path I should follow and provided me with the principles which I stick to to this day when interpreting music.

When it comes to famous guitarists – I grew up listening to Assad Brothers, Julian Bream, Andres Segovia, and John Williams. Among non-guitarists the most important ones who have influenced me are: Arthur Rubinstein, Maxim Vengerov, Frans Brüggen, Giovanni Antonini (as a conductor), and Il Giardino Armonico (Ensemble).

If you have recordings, which recording/s are you most proud of? If not, are you planning to record a cd?

So far, I have recorded one CD album “Mateusz Kowalski Classical Guitarist” and, of course, this is the one I’m most proud of. It was premiered in September 2019. The album comprises a collection of pieces important to me, reimagined and interpreted anew. The track list features compositions by Bach, Giuliani, Tárrega, Barrios, Piazzolla, Ponce, Assad and Schubert. The album published by CD Accord is available via Naxos Classics Online store, on Spotify, Amazon Music and iTunes.

What are some up and coming projects (recordings, concerts) you are excited about?

I have just finished my online social media project (FB + IG) “A week with Guitar Salon International”. I premiered eight videos recorded with them on seven different guitars. I described every guitar from the player’s perspective and wrote a couple of thoughts about the pieces themselves.

The next big project will be recording my second CD for the National Institute of Fryderyk Chopin. It’ll happen this year, in September. The CD will contain Chopin’s Mazurkas op. 6 and 7 transcribed by J. N. Bobrowicz (first ever transcription of these mazurkas) and the most important compositions (a couple of world premiere recordings) of the greatest Polish guitar virtuosos of the nineteenth century – Jan Nepomucen Bobrowicz, Felix Horetzky, Stanisław Szczepanowski, and Marek Sokołowski. Extremely hard but also extremely beautiful pieces.

Technique and Performance

How much do you practice? And, do you structure your practice in any particular way?

The time is spend on practicing is dependent on many different factors, but it is usually somewhere between two to six hours. Let’s say it’s four hours on average. I try to spend at least an hour to 90 minutes working on my technique every day, which is about playing various exercises, drills, or speeding up fast parts of pieces I play – gradually, with metronome. It’s basically trying to exceed my limits, push my technical boundaries every day.

Are there aspects of guitar that you struggle with or that you find you are still working on?

It’s making sure, that at all times, it’s the technique which serves the music and not the opposite. I believe that’s an aspect of the guitar every guitarist should be working on, all their lives.

Do you deliberately memorize music or have a technique that helps assimilate music into memory?

The fastest way for me to memorize a piece of music is to practice it having the sheet music put somewhere else, in the other room, for example. Then you are forced to remember as many bars as possible, otherwise, you’d have to stand up and walk to the place where the scores are at.

Have you published any editions or do you plan to publish your own editions in the future?

I have plans to publish my edition of Franz Schubert’s Musical Moment No. 3. Many guitarists ask me to do that, so I will, very soon.

Do you have a favorite drill you use to warm up?

I love to warm up with arpeggios from Tarrega’s The Complete Technical Studies.

Do you have any pre-concert rituals?

A one light meal only, playing through all my program with scores and a lot of coffee.

Do you do anything to your nails or shape them in a particular way?

I shape them by placing a nail file over my strings, then I imitate how I hit the strings, which always gives me the same, rather round shape, with the length of the nail not exceeding the flesh of my finger (only thumb is exception from that rule).

Advice to Younger Players

What single most important piece of advice about practicing would you offer to younger players?

Structure your practicing. Practice technique separately – with scales, drills, exercises, arpeggios. Sight-read a lot – that’s one of the most useful skills.

Remember that the most important thing is to make your interpretation interesting and valuable for the audience. And when I say audience – I don’t mean guitarists, competition jury members, etc., I mean regular people, who look for sincere feelings in music, who want to experience something beautiful during the concerts. Your job is to make their lives better. Bearing that in mind, you’ll never lose motivation and you’ll always see meaning in what you’re doing.

What repertoire do you consider essential for young/conservatory students to assimilate? Why?

I believe that young/conservatory students should play pieces from all the epochs and they do that in most of the cases. In my opinion they miss one very essential skill – being able to realize a figured bass. It takes some time to be fluent at it, but even spending some time on understanding how it works is very beneficial. It makes you understand harmony better, which is strictly connected to better understanding music in general.

Tangent

What is the last book that you read? Favorite author/s?

Homo Deus, written by Yuval Noah Harari. Favorite author – Bruno Schultz.

Do you try to stay healthy? Exercise? Follow a particular diet? Have a favorite pre-concert food?

I ride a mountain bike and exercise regularly. 😊

Do you meditate in any way?

For me listening to the music is way of meditating, contemplating.

What is your favorite way to spend time when not practicing?

Eating out with my wife – finding new places with delicious food and coffee.

Anabel Montesinos playing Tárrega

Published on June 10, 2018 by Leo Garcia1 Comment

This is a VERY recent video from the Boston Guitar Festival of Spanish guitarist, Anabel Montesinos, performing one of the most beautiful and soulful versions of Francisco Tárrega’s Fantasia sobre motivos de La Traviata I have ever heard. Anabel’s expressivity and virtuosity cover such a broad emotional palette that it is hard to pinpoint exactly what moves me most about this performance. Wonderful playing! This also looks like the first time I’ve seen her perform on what looks like a guitar by Stephen Connor and not Simon Marty!

Artist Profile and Interview – Andrea González Caballero

Published on February 26, 2018January 6, 2019 by Leo Garcia4 Comments

Spectacular Spanish guitarist, Andrea González Caballero, recently sat down to share a few personal details and thoughts on guitar. In addition to several videos showcasing her wonderfully musical and solid and sensitive interpretations of music by guitarist and composer Joaquín Clerch, Manuel Ponce, and Joaquín Malats, I’ve linked to her debut CD with Naxos. Hope this inspires all of you loyal readers!

Personal

When did you start playing and why? Or, what drew you to the guitar initially? I started playing guitar when I was 7 years old, maybe because my mother is guitar teacher and I saw her with a guitar.

What repertoire do you enjoy playing the most? I love playing Spanish music because I feel it is part of me.

What guitar or guitars do you perform on? Strings? I have a Fernando Mazza spruce guitar and D’addario strings.

Which guitarists/musicians have had the most influence on you? The biggest influence for me has been (and still is) Joaquín Clerch, who has been my teacher since I was 12 years old.

What recording/s are you most proud of? I think my last CD recorded with Naxos has been a great opportunity to show my work of the last years.

Are there any recordings that you consider have the finest recorded sound for

guitar? It is difficult to say that. I think that on the old recordings we can admire a more pure sound of the instrument and feel it closer to us.

What are some up and coming projects (recordings, concerts) you are excited about? I have concerts in different countries but one of the most exciting concerts for me will be to be back in Mexico, after 5 years and perform there!