b67497.qxd 19/03/2007 16:55 Page 8 WHLive0016 Made & Printed in England Paco Peña flamenco guitar Recorded live at Wigmore Hall, London, on 6 December 2006 Paco Peña Dedication: guitar I would like to dedicate this recording, as I did the concert, to the memory of Clifford Hocking, a true champion of the arts, especially music; a real special person and a very dear friend. Paco Peña 01 Los arcos Granaína 07.28 A Flamenco 02 Rizos de la mar Alegrías 04.57 Guitar Recital 03 Piedra adentro Tarantas 08.00 04 Mi Sole Soleares 06.44 05 Rosarillo Tientos-tangos 05.37 06 Paterna Peteneras 06.09 07 Maestro Mario Zapateado 04.41 08 Filigrana Malagueña y verdial 05.21 09 Rabanales Fandangos * 06.07 10 Arroyo Pedroche Bulerías * 05.56 * with Angel Muñoz caJón Total time: 61.05 b67497.qxd 19/03/2007 16:56 Page 2 PACO PEÑA Paco Peña embodies both authenticity and innovation in flamenco. As guitarist, composer, dramatist, producer and artistic mentor he has transformed perceptions of this archetypal Spanish art form. Born in the Andalucian city of Córdoba, Paco Peña began learning the guitar from his brother at the age of six and made his first professional appearance at the age of twelve. In the late 1960she leftSpain for London, where his Photograph by Elvira Peña recitals of flamenco music captured the public imagination. Venues for his solo performances have included the intimate Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club and the monumental Royal Albert Hall in London, New York’s Carnegie Hall and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. He has shared the stage with fellow- guitarists, singers and instrumental groups, bridging diverse musical genres, including classical, jazz, blues, country and Latin American. Readers of America’s Guitar magazine judged Paco Peña as ‘Best Flamenco Guitarist of the Year’ for five consecutive years. In 1981 he founded the Centro Flamenco Paco Peña in Córdoba, later becoming Artistic Director of the Córdoba International Guitar Festival. Plans are underway for a new educational initiative in Peña’s hometown, complementing his work as the world’s first Professor of Flamenco Guitar, a role established in 1985 at Rotterdam Conservatory in the Netherlands. Paco Peña is based in London, but still spends a significant part of the year in his native Andalucía. In 1997 he was proud to be named Oficial de la Cruz de la Orden del Mérito Civil, an honour bestowed by King Juan Carlos of Spain. Produced and Engineered by John Taylor Recorded live at Wigmore Hall, London, 6 December 2006 Director: John Gilhooly Wigmore Hall Live — General Manager: Helen Peate; Head of Sales and Marketing: Claire Hargrove The programme for Paco Peña’s first Wigmore Hall recital, 12 November 1967 www.wigmore-hall.org.uk/live 2 7 b67497.qxd 19/03/2007 16:56 Page 6 Others have followed, Niño Ricardo, Sabicas, Paco de Lucía, to name a few, all creating compositions of their own within the compass of flamenco, while not PACO PEÑA LIVE AT WIGMORE HALL 6 December 2006 losing one iota of their ability to accompany. On the contrary, the same searching spirit for creating solos is no less apparent in the striving of the guitarist to Looking back over the years since I gave my first concert at Wigmore Hall in 1967, accompany singers and dancers, all of which adds to flamenco as a living art form. Ireflectupon the verydifferentworld thatwe now inhabit — different in so many Paco Peña, too, in his inimitable style, has added to the richness of flamenco, ways, not least the extent to which the performance and enjoyment of flamenco not just in his solo playing but in his evocative stagings and presentations, such as music has become so widespread and natural. his recent A Compás, in which dancer, singer and guitarist all display their It wasn’t so at the time; flamenco, to be sure, was known to fewer music lovers consummate skills. In his Misa flamenca and now his Requiem for the Earth, Paco than it is today, and was presented mostly as a spectacular dance form (the spec- has been able to wed a more classical, liturgical concert form with the powerful, tacular and wonderful dance form that it still is) rather than also highlighting the deep-rooted cry of the flamenco cante, without either losing its identity. The value of the solo guitar as a worthwhile and fulfilling musical medium in its own juxtaposition, in fact, adds a brilliant and absorbing tension to both the Misa and right. Wigmore Hall was certainly among the first classical institutions in the music the Requiem. world to see and appreciate that value and offer it to its audiences, and I must say As with many flamenco guitarists, Paco Peña came to the idea of playing solo that I feel privileged to have been a beneficiary of that vision at the time. only after a long time of performing with singers and dancers. As he has pointed But if the world has changed, as it undoubtedly has, in relation to the aware- out, flamenco’s range of emotions revolves around el cante, around the singer who, ness of the profound beauty of flamenco music, that occasion, all those years perhaps most of all, is the authentic voice of that extraordinary art. Hence, to ago when I was first welcomed at Wigmore Hall, was also life changing for me accompany a singer well, following his nuances and creativity while urging him or personally, in at least two ways. her on to the point of duende — that elusive moment of artistic truth — is a veritable First, just appearing there on the stage, trying to express with the guitar alone challenge for the best of guitarists and constitutes an essential training, as indeed the elements of my musical culture, which traditionally involved accompanying does the accompanying of dancers, for the flamenco guitarist aspiring to project the singers and dancers, was a great departure for me. I had taken a big decision and complexity and power of flamenco on his own. the situation was scary and the result unpredictable! It is fitting that this beautiful recording is made at Wigmore Hall; given the It turned out well in the end, in no small measure due to the support and immense interest in the guitar in Britain during the 1960s and on, it was perhaps warmth I received from both the staff and audience at Wigmore Hall. Since then I fortuitous both for him and those who came to appreciate him and his playing that have tried to follow that same goal of seeking to convey what I believe is the true he should have chosen to launch, in 1967, his solo concert career here. In London, essence of flamenco, whether playing solo or with my troupe. Paco was also able to share friendship and musicianship with great classical The other momentous revelation on that day was the discovery that flamenco, guitarists such as John Williams and Julian Bream, those associations opening up in the way that I presented it — that is without pretence, but simply as I honestly for him a broad interest in music that would take him to playing with classical believe the music to be, the way I had received it from my tradition — resonated guitarists, and indeed recording with them. with the audience. I had been banking on that notion, but proving it by the result of As this Wigmore Hall live recording shows, Paco is a masterful musician, with a the concert made me immensely happy in a way that set me on the path I have wonderful ability to express the power of music, whether it be flamenco as in this followed ever since. recording or, in other circumstances, a Lauro valse or indeed a composition by Bach. We must look forward to the next occasion, but soon. 6 3 b67497.qxd 19/03/2007 16:56 Page 4 Coming back to this lovely hall now I can only continue in that same vein. My Fandangos de Huelva is perhaps the most popular and widespread variety of concert, and therefore the present recording, consists of a variety of guitar solos fandango. The strong, compelling rhythm is further highlighted by the accompani- based on, and extracted from, different forms of songs or dances that come directly ment on ‘cajón’, or percussive box, of my good friend and star dancer in my from the traditional flamenco repertoire that I learned during my childhood and Company, Angel Muñoz. adolescence. Bulerías is, par excellence, the song and dance for the fiesta or party. It displays a kind of explosion of complex rhythm and happiness (once again, watch out for the I start with a Granaína, a reflective piece that explores sonorities in a calm, lyrical ‘cajón’ accompaniment of Angel Muñoz) that makes it truly unique in its character, way, without a specific rhythmic pattern to follow, i.e. belonging to the category of and absolutely indispensable in a celebratory flamenco gathering. flamenco pieces called ‘Toques Libres’, ‘free’ or ‘ad libitum’ — forms that have their Paco Peña © 2007 origin in the ancient Spanish dance called ‘fandango’. Next is a contrasting Alegrías, a rhythmical, lively dance (and singing form) PACO PEÑA originating from Cádiz. by Peter Bunyard Then a Tarantas, another ‘free’ form full of intensity and depth of feeling, Forty years ago Paco Peña gave his first ever full-length solo guitar recital at perhaps on account of its genesis among the working people of the mines in Wigmore Hall. For him it was a first, and at that time an unusual event, since the Eastern Andalucía.