Over the years, I’ve heard many great guitarists interpret this piece. Fortunately, many of them have also published arrangements. So when I finally decided to learn it this summer, I consulted the piano score and read through as many guitar editions as I could get my hands on: Segovia, Pepe Romero, Abel Carlevaro, David Russell, Rafael Andia, Paulino Garcia Blanco, Stanley Yates, among a few others. I listened to many players as well: Julian Bream, Marcelo Kayath, Jose Antonio Escobar, Alicia de la Rocha, to name a few. There are many great performances on YouTube as well. Each edition and player has something interesting, some way of doing something that is clever or that works well. Some simplify difficult passages and some editions are more or less “guitaristic” than others. And all of those editions work well. But I cannot help trying to find my own way of doing it. The edition here is the way I play it now. You can find the score here on my payhip page.
Winner of the Youth Division of the Guitar Foundation of America’s 2017 International Competition, Leonora Spangenberger has started to grace more and more stages with her talent. A few months ago I posted some videos of this exceptionally talented wunderkind performing three of twelve etudes by Heitor Villa-Lobos. To follow up that post, Leonora took some moments from her busy schedule to share some details about her life with guitar so far. From swimming as a hobby to preparing what sounds like a monumental program for an upcoming concert in Vienna, Leonora seems to have a wonderful world of music making in front of her.
When did you start playing and why? Or, what drew you to the guitar initially?
At the age of six, my older sister and I met a Spanish lady in our
neighborhood once a week. We sang Spanish songs and had a lot of fun
learning some Spanish words and expressions with her. One day I found a
guitar at her house and was curious about how to play it, although I
hadn’t listened to a guitar before at all. I started lessons and that’s
how everything began.
What repertoire do you enjoy playing the most?
I really love to perform pieces written in the Baroque period. Most of
the time and especially at the moment I play works by Bach. Besides, I‘m
also interested in finding new contemporary pieces like ‘Four Images of
Japan’ by Jana Obrovská and Serenade and Toccata by Sofia Gubaidulina.
What guitar or guitars do you perform on?
For about two years now I’ve been very happy with my Robert Ruck guitar
that was previously played by Tilman Hoppstock. It’s a brilliant
instrument and I’ve been discovering new colors almost every day.
Are there any recordings that you consider have the finest recorded sound for guitar?
The Pepe Romero version of the Aranjuez concerto is the most inspiring
recording to me.
What are some up and coming projects that excite you?
I’m very honored to have the opportunity to perform in the Konzerhaus
in Vienna in April 2019. There I’m going to play the first and sixth
keyboard partita by J.S. Bach and also contemporary works. I’m very much
looking forward to giving this concert and I’m already really excited.
Do you have a favorite drill or exercises you use to warm up?
Probably like everybody: scales, slides, slurs, trills, etc.
Do you have any pre-concert rituals?
Not really. To me it’s important to have enough sleep before the concert
in the evening. I like a rich meal in the morning and snacks during the
day. And of course warming up is part of my pre-concert preparation.
Could you offer any advice to other young players?
Have fun. 😉
Do you try to stay healthy? Exercise? Follow a particular diet? Have a favorite pre-concert food?
I think doing sports is the best way to stay healthy. There are lots of
kinds of sport you could do and to me swimming is a great chance to
relax from daily stress and to keep my body healthy.
What is your favorite way to spend time when not practicing?
Swimming, as I mentioned before, and meeting friends.
Special thanks to Stefan Schmidt for facilitating the interview and to Siccas Guitars for the video of Henze’s Drei Tentos.
YouTube is both a blessing and a curse. Among thousands of videos not worth watching, there are a few gems waiting for discovery. I’m hoping to add video tutorials on the elementary pieces that my students enjoy playing after they’ve finished the KinderGuitar curriculum. In the meantime, I’ll share some great videos I’ve discovered after being trapped in the YouTube world a few weeks ago. If you are still developing your technique, watch them over and over. If you are far along, there are still wonderful moments of insight to extract. I watched most of them in one sitting at 1.5x speed, taking notes, and sipping coffee. These videos come from Russian guitarist Andrey Parfinovich. He’s done the guitar world a great service when he decided to film his lessons with the masters!
