A la española - Spanish guitar art

Works by Gaspar Sanz & Fernando Sor
Xavier Díaz-Latorre - baroque guitar & romantic guitar
In a special concert in our concert series, we welcome Xavier Díaz-Latorre, one of the stars of early music. The Spanish lutenist and guitarist, who is best known for his decades-long partnership with Jordi Savall, will perform a varied programme focusing on two outstanding Iberian guitar virtuosos: Díaz-Latorre interprets music by Gaspar Sanz on the baroque guitar and works by Fernando Sor on the romantic guitar. Gaspar Sanz, the scion of an important Aragonese family, initially studied theology and philosophy, but then turned his attention entirely to music and went to Rome and Naples, where he studied with Cristoforo Caresana, whose music is the focus of our Christmas concert. After completing his extensive studies, he returned to Zaragoza, where he published numerous important guitar works and the first instructional work for the five-choir baroque guitar. Fernando Sor was one of the most important virtuosos on the new type of romantic guitar, which became established in the first half of the 19th century and triggered a Europe-wide guitaromania. Sor's musical career was correspondingly international. This concert project is part of the supporting programme of an international guitar conference taking place in Innsbruck on the initiative of Stefan Hackl.