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| UPCOMING GUITAR CONCERTS AND EVENTS |
Concerts at Carmel, "Bliss and Friends" Concert
Diverse Dances
Lois Bliss Herbine flute and piccolo and Allen Krantz guitar
The selections presented in this flute and guitar concert travel through multicultural dance forms and accent the music of Romania, Argentina, India, Ireland and America. There is no admission charge, although donations are gratefully accepted. Reception for the artists will follow.
Friday, May 16th, 2008, 8:00 p.m.
Carmel Presbyterian Church
Corner of Mount Carmel Ave and Edge Hill Road, Glenside, PA
215-887-1074
Visit the Concerts at Carmel Website for more information
Program:
Rumanian Folk Dances.....................................................................................Bela Bartok
Dances in the Madhouse (1982).......................................................................David Leisner
The Enchanted Dawn for flute and guitar..........................................................Ravi Shankar
INTERMISSION
Saint Chapelle in the Morning (for solo guitar)
Inishmore (for solo guitar).......................................................................................Allen Krantz
Come Along with Me .................................................................................Traditional Irish reel
Farewell To Ballinahulla .............................................................................Traditional Irish jig
Histoire du Tango................................................................................................Astor Piazzolla
Bordel 1900
Cafe 1930
Nightclub 1960
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| INTRODUCING LA PATRIE GUITARS |
| We now carry a good new line of student classical guitars called La Patrie made in Quebec, Canada. All models are well built and have impressive tone and easy playability. If you are in the market for a quality beginner's instrument or want to upgrade from a guitar with laminated soundboard and dull sound that is hard to play, one of these models may be just what you want. |
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| ROBERT PAGE INTERVIEW |
THE FRENCH TOUCH
An interview by Josiane Spinosi with Robert Page, owner of The Classical Guitar Store
from GUITARE CLASSIQUE, Jan. 2003
As much at ease in using the language of Moli?re as he is in front of a stove cooking up delicacies, Robert Page is a lover of France and French culture. This American has visited the most improbable corners of Paris, has met Parisian writers, can quote Colette or Proust almost from memory, can smoke a pipe in record time (that means for a very long time)... But his main activity is the sale of guitars, especially those made in France. We met him while sharing a bottle of 1985 Saint-Est?phe which he had selected. Quite a connoisseur! All around the room the walls are covered with hundreds, no, thousands of records (33 r.p.m.?s and CD?s). On the first floor a computer stands beside a French dictionary, its pages dog-eared with use, while the spicy odor of a Moroccan tagine floats through the room gently illuminated by the autumn sunlight. We were unable to resist the urge to introduce him to you.
GUITARE CLASSIQUE: How did you discover French guitars?
ROBERT PAGE: It?s a long story. I?ve loved France for a long time, its literature, its musical life, its world of fine art, its food, its wines, and above all the quality of its daily life. Five years ago, Roland Dyens came to Philadelphia to play a concert. We had a good time together during that weekend. He was playing a Fanton-d?Andon guitar, a maker whom I?d never heard of. Once back in France, Roland spoke to Olivier Fanton-d?Andon about me, a small classical guitar dealer with a taste for all things French. Olivier had the nice idea to invite me to spend a little time at his home in Chateaudun. I went to a stringed instrument exposition organized by the regional center at Orl?ans, in the St.-Pierre-le-Puellier church, to be precise. There were many guitars on display by luthiers from that part of the country, including Olivier and G?rard Audirac. Also plenty of discussions, trying guitars, concerts and meetings...
That moment was a revelation. I suddenly realized that the French had a long and formidable guitar making tradition. A tradition unknown to most Americans (myself included)! Do you realize? After almost 30 years in this profession and at least 20 years of fascination with France! Putting together my two passions, for the guitar and for France, has been like a renaissance for me, both professionally and personally.
GC: So you started your "Tour de France?"
RP: Yes, I went in search of the classical guitar makers. And everywhere I found remarkable luthiers, very talented, having both mastery of the tradition and a strong interest in innovative approaches. And my "tour" is not over yet. I travel regularly back to France to meet new luthiers.
GC: As an American guitar dealer, do you find that French guitars have points in common?
RP: In my humble opinion, despite all their beautiful differences, French guitars share a characteristic clarity of tone. Excuse me for daring to sum up such a vast topic. That is essentially what differentiates them from Spanish, American, Japanese and Mexican guitars, it seems to me. I also sell guitars from those countries.
GC: What luthiers do you represent currently in the U.S.?
RP: I represent as many French luthiers as my budget permits. Today I?m proud to have the instruments of ten French guitar makers in my shop in Philadelphia .Thanks to their talents and their fine sense of esthetics, their reputations are growing in my country through the exposure they get on the Internet and in my store. The names of Delarue, Audirac, Quinson, Castelluccia, Mercier, Fouilleul, Raifort , Lesueur, B?dikian and Dupont are starting to be known here.
GC: For how long have you been enamored of the guitar?
RP: I bought The Classical Guitar Store in March of 1973. It was a pretty little shop with a devoted clientele. Before that I was an English teacher at the university and I was taking guitar lessons at the store. I love the guitar for several reasons. I started with piano studies when I was young. I played piano. Fine. But because of the regular moving required by my academic job, I found that the guitar was a great substitute. It is portable (laughs), and it has a warm and intimate tone.
GC: Do you still play the guitar?
RP: During the time that I?ve just been speaking about I played a lot, passionately, like crazy! I had three or four hours of music in my head and in my fingers. Dowland, Frescobaldi, Bach. Sor, Giuliani, Tarrega, Albeniz, Granados, Ponce, Villa-Lobos... Yikes! When I think of it! I played in restaurants, caf?s, for private parties, never on stage. The idea of a real recital made me nervous. Today I rarely play since I no longer have time to practice. I play now only to demonstrate a guitar for a customer or to entertain my grandson.
GC: Because of the success of the French guitars?
RP: They?ve taken over my life and leave me no time for myself! No, I?m joking. I chose to devote myself to the sale of the musical instrument that I so much love. Because it is always more than just selling...it?s also the relations with the customers whether directly in the shop or by telephone or by e-mail. And it?s the time taken to examine the guitars and write their descriptions. And it?s the chance to detail their specifications, it?s the pleasure of hearing them sing...
GC: Do you repair guitars?
RP: Before, yes. But now, with the growth of my business, I don?t have time to do serious repair work. For that I have a very good craftsman who works with me. His workshop is near my store. I send him the guitarists whose instruments are "sick." I still adjust guitars, especially those which I sell.
GC: What music and what musicians do you appreciate?
RP: What a question! I truly love all kinds of music...classical and jazz, above all. In classical guitar I love Bach?s lute suites and the transcriptions of his violin sonatas and partitas. What an inexhaustible delight! I love the Spaniards like Albeniz, Granados and de Falla and also the Latin American composers like Villa-Lobos, Lauro, Piazzolla, Brouwer and Ponce. I?m sure I?m forgetting some. Among players I love my friends Barrueco, Dyens, Dumond, Barbosa-Lima, Antigoni Goni, and especially the young and superb Ana Vidovic. I like Bream, Williams, Segovia and the neglected Cuban guitarist Rey de la Torre. Among the duo players, I like the Assads who are magical, and I?m very fond of the Duo Spinosi. |
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| ANTOINE DE LHOYER GUITAR WORKS |
Works for guitar duo, guitar solo, voice with guitar accompaniment, and guitar and orchestra have just been published in France and are available in the USA exclusively from The Classical Guitar Store.
Antoine de Lhoyer (1768 - 1852) was without a doubt one of the most talented composers for guitar of the early 19th century, despite two centuries of almost total neglect by publishers and guitarists. Discovered and edited by Josiane and Philippe Spinosi, some of his major pieces are now once again available in beautifully printed editions.
Trois duos pour guitares, Opus 31 $35br>
Grande sonate pour la guitare $13.50
Six exercises pour la guitar $16
Douze romances avec accompagnement de guitare, Opus 24$24
Concerto pour guitare, Opus 16 $29.95
The CD "De Lhoyer, duos et concerto pour guitare" performed by the Duo Spinosi is on sale for $15.
All five volumes and the CD are available by calling The Classical Guitar Store at 215-567-2972. |
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| NEW DOMINIQUE DELARUE |
I'm happy to say that we have received another superb guitar from Dominique Delarue, one of France's foremost luthiers whom I discovered in 2000 and have been working closely with ever since. This is his grand concert guitar number 309 dated 2008. It comes from his workshop in St. Chamas, France, a village near the Mediterranean city of Marseilles. It is the 20th such instrument that I have gotten from Dominique. I have for the first time a pair of Delarue guitars, one cedar and one spruce, and it should be very interesting to play them side by side and hear how they differ and how they are similar.
For those who are interested, Delarue has promised me the next guitar in September. |
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| GUITAR STORE TEACHER LINDA COHEN |
| LINDA COHEN who has taught classical and folk guitar at the shop since 1973 was one of the musicians featured in the March 6, 2008, edition of CITY PAPER (citypaper.net). Her long stint as a major guitar artist in the venues of Philadelphia is recounted as well as her views on the musical life. Great to see her get the notice she well deserves. |
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| SOUND DEMOS AVAILABLE |
| We now offer a chance for longdistance customers to hear guitars they are interested in purchasing. We have means of recording sound demos using high fidelity equipment and sending them via email attachments. This should enhance your internet shopping experience at The Classical Guitar Store. |
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| PHILIPPE JEAN-MAIRET, SWISS LUTHIER |
While in Europe in March I went to Geneva, Switzerland, to pick up a guitar that I'd ordered last summer from the great Swiss luthier Philippe Jean-Mairet. This is the first instrument I've ordered from him and the first that I've ever had from Switzerland. After he showed me the guitar and we both played it, I invited him to lunch so that I could get to know him. He told me about how, when he was a young man working as an architectural designer, one day in a cafe the juke box played the famous "Jeux interdits" by Narciso Yepes and he was hooked. He wanted so badly to play classical guitar that he bicycled all the way to Spain to see how guitars are made. In Barcelona he had to chance to examine a guitar by lengendary luthier Enrique Garcia which has influenced his guitar design to this day. That was in 1973.
Today Mr. Jean-Mairet is a highly regarded and much sought after builder of some of the finest guitars in Europe. I'm proud to have this exquisite instrument in my shop and to introduce his work to the American guitar market. |
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| Leo Brouwer Guitar Works |
| Volume 1 of Leo Brouwers Guitar Works is now available for $19.95. It contains the four volumes of his 20 Estudios sencillos, Dos Aires populares cubanos, Dos Temas populares cubanos, Danza del Altimplano, 3 Piezas sin titulo, Preludio, Fuga No. 1, Parabola, Tarantos, and three Cadences. |
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