CLASSICAL GUITAR MAGAZINE
NEW YORK TIMES
QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL



WIGMORE HALL

It has been 40 years since Paco Peña gave his Wigmore Hall debut as a soloist, so this performance was a little more special that usual. Of course, the Hall was filled to the brim and the concert was being recorded for Wigmore Hall’s recently-established record label. The quiet attentiveness of the audience was impressive, despite it being the season of coughs and colds; Paco Pena cre ates such an appealing atmos phere as he plays that one can understand the hush perfectly.

From the very beginning Paco Peña was impressive with his clear tremolo, and the elegance of his glissandos up the sixth string at the end of the musical phrase in the Granaína’s. His Tarantas was intimate and communicative and as with each of the pieces he played, it moved and developed in an interesting way that one could follow as clearly as a storyline. His alzapúa was impressive too. It is quite rare to hear a Petenera performed, and this one had a strong jazz influence in the harmony. His golpes on the tap plate were light, like a gentle foot tap and the melodic lines in the falsetas of the Soleares were very attractive.

Paco Peña played selection of songs collected by Federico Garcia Lorca including the Zorongo Gitano and Los Cuatro Muleros, pieces which have become an important part of Flamenco repertoire.There was a wonderful percussion duo in the Solea por Bulerias with Angel Muñoz on cajón and Paco Pena responding with golpes on the guitar. The concert ended on a high point .

Although this was a concert of Flamenco guitar solos, in the second half of the programme, Paco Peña was joined by Flamenco dancer Angel Muñoz, who is one of the lead dancers in the Paco Peña Dance Company. Angel Muñoz did not dance however; he was there to accompany Paco Peña on the Flamenco percussion instrument called the cajón.

In the Fandangos Paco Peña played incredibly fast melodic pas sages with a super feel for the rhythm; it really was exhilarating. It was very interesting to hear Muñoz on the cajón which he played very well, because his ideas in response to what was being played on the guitar was more like a dancer’s footwork transferred to the cajón rather than what one usually hears on the instrument.


There was a wonderful percussion duo in the Solea por Bulerias with Angel Muñoz on cajón and Paco Pena responding with golpes on the guitar. The concert ended on a high point with a dynamic Bulerias

Thérèse Wassily Saba

NEW YORK TIMES

Music: Paco Peña on Guitar

PACO PENA’S Sunday night program of flamenco guitar at the Abraham Goodman House was extraordinary in several respects. Mr. Peña is a genuine virtuoso, capable of dazzling an audience with technical abilities beyond the frets of mortal man. He combines rapid-fire flourishes with a colorist’s sense of shading; the listener cannot recall hearing any guitarist with a more assured mastery of his instrument. But Mr. Peña is much more than just a showman; he is also a tasteful musician. His improvisations never waft; they have a structural cohesion that is all too rare in the impressionistic world of flamenco. The concert was pleasantly informal; Mr. Peña played a selection, then talked a bit, then played some more, speaking in both Spanish and English. The capacity audience rewarded him not only with several sustained ovations, but with an involuntary gasp o delight upon the conclusion of every piece.

TIM PAGE

QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL

WHEN the Queen Elizabeth Hall is packed to the rafters, women clamour for the star’s autograph after the show, tickets are like gold dust and cries for encores are yelped in Spanish there can only be one explanation. Paco Pena is back in town.

The gifted guitarist didn’t disappoint his fans as he flaunted his flamenco talent in this rare solo recital which followed up the success of 1991’s Misa Flamenca success.

Now the professor of flamenco at Rotterdam Conservatory, Pena has done a great deal to give his music not just a popular following but also immense critical respect in a classical world that often classes Spanish guitar as an inferior artform.

 A mixture of fandangos, tangos and alegrias, this performance highlighted the Andalucian’s peerless ability to switch from tightly-controlled, mournful pieces to the full flourish and panache of racy dance melodies.

Pena’s technical mastery of what can be an incredibly complex music showed just how expressive and graceful top-class flamenco can be.

If flamenco is all about sex and passion, then this shy little man from Cordoba is the South Bank’s regular Tom Jones. This time the audience managed to keep their knickers on – next time who knows?

PAUL WAUGH