Impressions
And Sounds – Four Days Of Music For All SensesFirst exciting meeting of Los Romeros with the members of the curatorship and guests of the Hermann Hauser Guitar Foundation |HHGF| at the Bayerischer Hof in Munich on October 31, 2004.
Friendly relations between the Romero family and the Hauser family were established a long time ago. Back in 1952, Celedonio Romero, father of Celin, Pepe and Angel Romero, already was in contact with Hermann Hauser I by letter, and this contact was maintained and cultivated by Hermann Hauser II and III. A first meeting in person with Hermann Hauser II took place in Reisbach, Germany.
What made that day different?
Los Romeros, that is Celin, Pepe, Celino and Lito, had already avowed themselves
to their HHGF membership before they arrived in Munich, considering the
HHGF to be a platform centering its activities around guitar music, artists
and guitar manufacturing. Angel Romero, who was not present at this meeting,
is also an important member of the Foundation. Pepe Romero explained that
his father, Celedonio Romero, would have approved of the organisation and
its ideas and would definitely have supported it in the world of music.Without exaggerating it can be affirmed that Los Romeros´ cooperation with the HHGF is an affair of the heart. The inspiring talks on the first evening of the meeting were based on the common knowledge about guitar music making listeners´ hearts beat faster and about the fact that this versatile instrument deserves much more attention than it gets today. The common desire of all persons involved is to implement artistically ambitious projects together, to promote young talents and to transmit new impulses in order to achieve progress in the range of guitaristic.
Reviving tradition, stirring the world by means of music, guitar and commitment.
That evening guitaristic companions comprised a guitar of 1913 and a terz
guitar of 1917, manufactured by Hermann Hauser I.
These very rare and unique guitars immediately raised the guitarists´ emotions.
On that evening Hermann Hauser succeeded in conveying his excellent relations to the Romeros to all members of the Foundation, that´s how good relations and first friendships could evolve.
On the second day, November 1, 2004, the members of the curatorship and the circle of friends met Los Romeros at Waakirchner Straße 11, Munich, that is where the Foundation is located at. One could see and try out many guitars from the collections of Hermann Hauser and Klaus Wolfgang Wildner, the founders of the HHGF. “Swarming throng in guitar heaven” might describe these impressing scenes best. Everyone jumped at the guitars and tried out whatever guitars were available, acting with the necessary caution, of course.
Special highlights were a quint bass guitar of 1924 and a prime guitar of 1919, manufactured by Hermann Hauser I. After ample testing Los Romeros played guitars of three Hauser generations.
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A great and unusually beautiful experience of sound for every listener. Outstanding artists with outstanding instruments, Celin played a 1969 HH II, Pepe played a 1919 HH I, Celino played a 1960 HH II and Lito played a 1994 HH III. Terrific! The complete recital may well be called unparalleled. Even the Romeros were amazed and astonished. What a magic moment to experience in one room the spirit of Celedonio Romero, the father of the Los Romeros idea, and the spirit of Hermann Hauser I, the genial guitar manufacturer. Tears allowed, because according to Pepe “guitar is soul”.
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First „Miguel Award“
for especially courageous artists
For the pleasure of everyone, Barbara Polasek, guitarist and member of
the Board of Directors of the HHGF, played two pieces of Bach on the 1924
quint bass guitar. This recital, without any preparation time, matches
a risky mountain hike. The 75 cm measure is a special challenge to small hands. But due to stunning basses, a wonderfully colored discant and Barbara Polasek´s powerful way of playing the audience listened closely and enthusiastically.
To the pleasure of everyone, the stress of playing this unusual instrument elicited the words “The measure just ain´t right!” from her – in the middle of her playing.
Her contribution to the success of this meeting may well be called a heroic deed, which of course had to result in awarding her the “First Miguel Award for Solo Artists” (made of sugar, of course).
Jazz and Pop
From
the range of guitars Buck Wolters chose a Hermann Hauser III with a maple
corpus and impressingly provided evidence that jazz and pop music may well
be presented in a modern way on a classical guitar. The sound was up-to-date, appealing and so strong that even non-classical composers and interpreters would have been surprised. Up-to-date communications technologies allow for presenting this acoustic pleasure in the range of big events.
„Platform Foundation“
Guitars, new recording and performing technologies, mechanics and strings, a new guitar school with new methodology and didactics, setting up and developing a Foundation´s own university of music and art, exchange of students and lecturers, workshops, master classes, cooperation with cultural institutions, international networking and much more, that is what future Foundation projects will emerge from. It is generally accepted that the best have to cooperate.
And that multidisciplinarity is crucial. It is the artists, technicians,
craftsmen, teachers, producers and managers who have to join forces to
achieve professional and groundbreaking results.
By means of up-to-date communications technologies the concerns and projects
of the Foundation may be communicated worldwide and presented in a modern
way. “Now the Foundation really starts!” , a sentence of Pepe
Romero on that very evening.Final Notes of the Munich Days
The meeting with the Romeros yielded friendship and joy about going on a journey together, certitude about being able to achieve quite a lot and about following an overall concept. That´s how Klaus Wolfgang Wildner, Hermann Hauser, Celin, Pepe, Lito and Celino Romero decided on tangible plans for international projects on the last evening.
Thanks to Pepe Romero, Klaus Wolfgang Wildner had an opportunity to try out a guitar from his son´s (“Little” Pepe´s) workshop. On this very beautiful instrument he played his own modern composition, which was excellently reproduced by the instrument. Celin Romero said “beautiful! ...nice music! ...nice touch!...“ – according to Klaus Wildner this must have been due to the guitar, since guitaristic masterstrokes couldn´t be expected from him after these eventful and emotionally moving days. But the almost intimate atmosphere of three guitarists in guitar heaven, surrounded by everyday deficiencies in the hotel room, was so charming, that you could well be moved to tears at the end of these wonderful days.
Los Romeros´ Concert in Bad Aibling on November 4, 2004
Thanks to an invitation by the organizer of the “Saitensprünge”, Hermann Hauser, Klaus Wolfgang Wildner and other members of the HHGF attended Los Romeros´ concert in Bad Aibling. To the organizers it was the prelude of their festival, to the members of the curatorship it was a farewell with a wonderful concert at the spa hotel Bad Aibling.
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Thought-provoking
impulses |
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Pepe: "Many guitar players sacrifice the tone to speed!"
Celin: "And many guitar makers sacrifice the tone to volume!"
Pepe: "To me something is ‘perfect’,
if it is the best possible at a given place at a given time,
but it also includes hope for it to be even better at a different place at
a different time."
Celin: "Genau", a German word which amuses
him very much.
(hs) Nov 10, 2004