An Evening With Pepe Romero

Pepe Romero, the second son of "the Royal Family of the Guitar," will perform a solo recital of guitar masterpieces both old and new. The concert will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 6, at 7:30 p.m. in the S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium at Benaroya Hall.

As a member of The Romeros guitar quartet, Pepe Romero has performed in the world's most prestigious venues including the White House and at the Vatican for Pope John Paul II; for His Royal Highness Prince Charles, Prince of Wales; King Juan Carlos and Queen Sophia of Spain; and Queen Beatrice of Holland. He has appeared at top music festivals, including those in Salzburg, Israel, Schleswig-Holstein, Menuhin, Osaka, Granada, Istanbul, Ravinia, Garden State, Hollywood Bowl, Blossom, Wolf Trap and Saratoga. Having also played with the world's premiere orchestras, Romero has more than 50 recordings, including those with the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, I Musici and flamenco singer Chano Lobato.

Born in 1944 in Málaga, Spain, Romero was taught guitar by his legendary father, Celedonio Romero. He now holds honorary doctorates from the University of Victoria and the Premio Andalucia de Música. His Majesty, King Juan Carlos I of Spain, knighted Pepe and his brothers, Celin and Angel, into the Order of Isabel la Católica.

Romero's recital will open with a piece by Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909), who is credited with inspiring the modern movement in Spanish music and fueling its extraordinary popularity. His music colorfully portrays the spirit of his native Spain. Rumores de la caleta ("Murmurs of the cove"), written as a malagueña, is a reference to a well-known cove on the coast near Málaga. This work was written in 1887 after the composer toured in Spain.

The music of Joaquín Turina (1882-1949) is infused with nationalistic ideas and musical folklore. Displaying the influence of the French impressionists, Turina made use of all possible nuances and colors that can be achieved on the guitar. Fandanguillo, ("little fandango") is dedicated to Andrés Segovia, who premiered it at the Teatro de la Comedia in Madrid. It is a highly rhapsodized variation on the triple feel of the fandango and includes such technical devices as pizzicato, rasgueado, harmonics, tambora and rapid scale passages.

Inspired by Spanish nationalists, Federico Moreno Torroba (1891-1982) was among the first composers approached by Andrés Segovia to write for the guitar. Torroba's Madroños, named for the open-weave shawl worn by the Madrileñas, is based on the graceful motion created by the many tassels which hang from the edges of the shawl, accentuated by every movement of the wearer.

Manuel de Falla (1876-1946) is credited with contributing to the renaissance of a national Spanish school of music at the beginning of the 20th century. Along with Albéniz, Granados and Turina, de Falla based his style on the traditional popular music of his country. Homenage 'Le Tombeau de Claude Debussy' is the only work de Falla wrote for solo guitar. It was composed as part of a special issue of the Revue Musicale dedicated to Debussy. Homenage contains rhythms characteristic of a habanera and quotations of Debussy's piano piece, La soirée dans Grenade.

A talented pianist, Joaquin Malats (1872-1912) studied in Paris and successfully toured North and South America to finally settle in Barcelona. The clarity and finesse of his playing brought him to the attention of Albéniz and Granados. Serenata española, written for piano, is heard in this program in an arrangement by Celedonio Romero. The typical Spanish rhythms and voicings give it a familiar sound and feeling.

The jota is a form associated with Aragon and the Ebro valley. Francisco Tárrega (1852-1910) revived and rewrote a jota composed by Julián Arcas Lacal as the Gran jota (1872). The piece contains a showy, Lisztean introduction with new variations that incorporate virtually every virtuoso technique known to the guitar.

Although blind from early childhood, Joaquín Rodrigo (1901-99) never let his disability get in the way of his passion. Like other Spanish composers of his generation, he studied composition in Paris, including a stint with Paul Dukas from 1927 to 1932. He returned home at the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936. Through his close association with the Romero family, he was inspired to write many of his most famous compositions. Written in 1960, En tierras de Jerez is a tribute to the Andalusian city of Jerez, the brithplace of flamenco music.

Danza Andaluza No. 1 by Celedonio Romero (1913-96) reflects the composer's free musical inspiration without structural restrictions. Zapateado is named for the Spanish dance in which the dancer uses the sound of his or her shoe against the floor to enhance the musical experience. Arpeggios and scales in the guitar are used to create its distinct rhythm. Fantasia Cubana is reminiscent of Romero's first efforts to improvise on the guitar when he was a small child. His father would come home from work and ask him to play "los compuestos," or "improvisations." Fantasía Cubana received its basic form from the Cuban rhythm of guajiras, or Cuban songs from the country.

Pepe Romero (b. 1944) was bewitched by the magic of Granada during his early trips to the city with his father Celedonio. In Atardecer en Grana, he remains faithful to the flamenco form of medias granadinas and captures the improvisatory feeling of the flamenco guitarist accompanying a singer.

Agustín Castellón (1912-90), professionally known as "Sabicas," was a Pamplona-born artist who became one of the greatest flamenco guitarists and composers in the history of the art form. His compositions contain a degree of magnitude equal to those of the great Spanish nationalistic composers. However, they remain completely faithful to the laws governing the musical forms of traditional flamenco: Campiña andaluza is an alegrías por fiesta and Aires de Triana is a bulerias.

Single tickets from $22 to $73 can be purchased by calling the Seattle Symphony. -- www.seattlesymphony.org