One of my favourite musicologists is Angelo Gilardino. He spoke last year at the Córdoba Guitar Festival where the festival’s central theme was Gilardino’s work. I was lucky enough to meet him there and also to hear the debut of his piece for flute, alto and guitar “Fiori del deserto”
His recent work with the Andrés Segovia archives is well-known but his compositions, writings and teaching have helped to shape a generation of players.
Here is a translation of the press notes from the editor’s webpage.
Curci editions has published the new book by Angelo Gilardino “Andrés Segovia – L’uomo, l’artista”
The life and career of the greatest guitarist of the twentieth century: from Linares, the Andalusian town where he was born, to the fame acquired in the most prestigious concert halls around the world.
In the background, the story of the man Segovia: three wives, four children, the Spanish Civil War, the flight to Montevideo, the looting of his home in Barcelona, the second world war, the years in New York and the meetings with many great musicians and other important figures in the musical world, to the clear decline of his new-found home.
The history of Segovia is that of a titanic protagonist of the twentieth century: around him guitar makers who built instruments which became legendary, the composers who renewed the repertoire of the guitar, the recordings, the music publishing, the respect he earned within the musical community.
This biography, compelling and well-documented, tells of a man whose destiny was to become the greatest guitarist of our time.