Images may be subject to copyright
On this day, 27 October 1986, Spanish virtuoso classical guitarist Andrés Segovia played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall.
Many professional classical guitarists were either students of Segovia or students of Segovia's students. Segovia's contribution to the modern-romantic repertoire included not only commissions but also his own transcriptions of classical or baroque works.
He is remembered for his expressive performances: his wide palette of tone, and his distinctive musical personality, phrasing and style.
Segovia's first public performance was in Granada at the age of 16 in 1909.A few years later he played his first professional concert in Madrid, which included works by Francisco Tárrega and his own guitar transcriptions of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Despite the discouragement of his family, who wanted him to become a lawyer, and criticism by some of Tárrega's pupils for his idiosyncratic technique, he continued to pursue his studies of the guitar diligently.
Segovia viewed teaching as vital to his mission of propagating the guitar and gave master classes throughout his career. His most famous master classes took place at Música en Compostela, in the Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela.
Segovia also taught at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena for numerous years, where he was aided by Alirio Díaz.
His teaching style is a source of controversy among some of his former students, who considered it to be dogmatically authoritarian. One of Segovia's most celebrated former students of the classical guitar, John Williams, has said that Segovia bullied students into playing only his style and stifled the development of their own styles. Williams has also said that Segovia was dismissive of music that did not have what Segovia considered the correct classical origins, such as South American music with popular roots. He was also critical of Williams' work with the group Sky for the same reasons.
Review - South Wales Echo
