Spanish Guitarist Serenades SMU

By Rita Zech
rzech@smu.edu

Guitar enthusiasts, students, faculty and staff watched and listened to world-renowned Spanish Maestro Francesco de Paula Soler, known as the “Poet of the Guitar with The Gold Polyphemus,” on Tuesday.

It was a full house in O’Donnell Hall at the Meadows School of the Arts when the tall and slender guitarist took the stage in a black tuxedo.

Eyes and ears were focused on Maestro Soler as he moved his delicate fingers up and down the guitar neck and back and forth between guitar strings. The program began with a Spanish song called “Suen?o,” or “Dream,” by composer Francisco Tarrega.

Freshman Kari Rood, who has a theater class in O’Donnell Hall, said she enjoys attending various Meadows events and was excited when she heard about last night’s recital.

Soler is known for his ability to play the guitar in a wide variety of genres that include Spanish, Latin American, contemporary music, jazz, bebop and blues.

Junior Marianna Yrdaneta, a music therapy major, is learning how to play the guitar and said she came to see “someone who can actually play guitar.”

The first half of the program consisted of Spanish and Latin American songs. Among the six pieces of Latin American songs, Soler began with a rhythmic and festive piece known as “Batucada” by Isaias Savio. He also played a Paraguayan tune called “Chopi” by Pablo Escobar from the suite “Las Tres Palomas.”

During the second half of the program, Soler played one of his most recognized songs which honors Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) the “Estudio de Concierto N° 11.”

The masterful program ended with a piece by Maestro Soler called, “Lady M, Little Rolling Stone,” which combined blues and rock with unique effects from the guitar.

Saskia Buggenhout, a foreign language major with a minor in Latin American studies, really liked the performance and stayed from the beginning to the end.

“I loved how he played ‘Ave Maria,’” she said. That was the first time she heard that song played on the guitar. “He’s an amazing guitarist,” Buggenhout said.