Gabriel Bianco 2008 GFA Winner Mertz/Schubert

[theviciousguitar]

Outstanding left hand technique, glorious right hand tone, and perfect sense of musicality :)

I HATE it when people comment magnificently to mediocre and crap players on youtube. Very few of "us" (classical guitar community) understand well played classical guitar music.

[ivanclassicalguitar]

whats the name of this piece?

[XianXiuHong]

@ivanclassicalguitar Lob Der Tranen (translates to Praise Of Tears) it's a Schubert transcription that J.K. Mertz did. It was originally a lieder.

[theosu66]

Very nice.

[magica20]

very nice!!

[ojkqweyrfiwegwelg]

smallman

[gabchan1]

après avoir écouté ça, je suis honoré d'avoir le même prénom que toi.

[harryyance]

bien, musical ah¡

[komodo93433]

simply beautiful!

[rsagala]

Quel chant!

incredible cantabile, beautiful expression, very poetic.

Bravo Gabriel!

[luutieuduong]

Save to playlist immediately! the beautiful beauty!

[guitarmbar]

This is totally unrelated to guitar, but man does Gabriel look like the tennis player Marat Safin. Anybody agree with me?

[slowdubs]

absolutely wonderful. all the way around. the guitarist is fantastic and is a lucky man to be playing such a fine instrument.

[nikosz66]

5 stars and 5 huge Bravo !!!

[spongkielamot]

he was guest on my guitar class

[uncjim]

I saw him last weekend. I've been playing and listening for about 35 years and seen pretty much all of the greats. I think there is a new bread of player today that has taken the music to a new level. Gabriel Bianco is one of those young players. He's simply brilliant.

[dnworks]

@uncjim Gabrie did a concert in San Jose, Ca and had a long layover, so he stayed with me for a couple of days. Your comment about " ... a new breed of player ..." was exactly his comment. Not only about himself but about many new guitarists coming up in Europe today. Without any disrespect, he commented that some of the greats of the past, would not even make it to the final round in today's guitar competitions ... the level of playing is that much greater today! We are the beneficiaries!

[guitarmbar]

@dnworks There's no doubt. It's the same with other instruments as well, for instance brass instruments. It's not a knock on the previous generations of players, but the pedagogy has come so far in the last 50-60 years. These days there are 18 year olds that would play Segovia right off the stage.

[bilstew]

@guitarmbar Oh wellI I suppose it's true there are lots of speed merchants out there with that great gift....however music has many facets and he or she have both their foibels and their fortes. The great gift to us of Segovia and others of his ilk was in my opinion their ability to INTERPRET music.Thank goodness this gift still holds good today even among the new up and coming classical guitarists.

[davidhandles]

This is one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard.

[aedo67]

Please, stop talking about guitars...think a little bit about music.

[percey]

classical guitar sounds the same to someone who doesn't know what they're listening for

[swiv2d]

Actually it's quiet simple, I'm listening out for good music and not just looking at technique and acurate sound. Which is why I find most classical guitar pieces boring as hell

[percey]

well my friend, the classical guitar repertoire is rich in diversity. From Spanish standards, piano transcriptions of Albeniz, Granados, de Falla etc... to the guitar virtuoso composers, Tarrega, Barrios, Lauro etc... to the English composer William Walton to the Frenchman Roland Dyens. From Bach to an awesome arrangement of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" there's no shortage of exciting classical guitar music available right here on youtube , if only one cares to search for it.

[VHDT10]

well think about how much talent is involved, he's insane. its exciting if yoou understand how amazing it is for him to hit every single note correctly. just saw him perform for my class. inspiring as hell.

[mischelllaaa]

C'est magnifique!!

[mischelllaaa]

magnifique- j'adore ca comment tu joues :-)

[jameszbn]

This is exquisite, the elegance and smoothness of this performance are remarkable. Pure refinement. IMHO Smallman guitars are fantastic, the thin top working as a diafragm.

[giantrabidpanda]

I honestly have no idea how people can trash Smallman guitars. Sure the price is totally inflated but they sound *to me* ridiculously beautiful. Of course I've only listened to the ones on youtube...

[AlexM1979]

I think it would be instantly obvious if he would pick a traditional guitar and play the same piece again. While slightly less loud it would sound warmer and sweeter, less nasal. I don't like the thin Smallman tone at all, but I have to agree that the newer models combined with these super technical French guys like Bianco and Villoteau have started to sound better than the older generation of players with lattice guitars.

[bcohen111]

What a great version. Where can we get the guitar transcription for this? The Mertz version I have seems to be a different song.

[johnquantran]

Yeah, I also look for this transcription too. Gabby has long fingers so he has more advantage when playing this piece, especially at the end.

[grimeyandcrass]

This is the Mertz.....i think it can be found at the Boije collection.

[bikini2sing]

Hello Sucker

vinnothelizard

[mikhailasanovic]

beautiful tone

[grimeyandcrass]

Never better than here....so expressive.

[bicguitar]

Beautiful! this is real musicianship, which is refreshing as there are so many technical wizards (but not musicians) on the concert/competition scene today. lovely playing.

[accela]

I agree with this 100%

[aranjuex]

It was true all what a I heard about you! Great player. Musicianship is your goal! Congratulations

[brizac1]

Congratulations, Gabriel! A wonderful piece truely wonderfully played. I shall get this CD as soon it will be available.

Regards from Vienna, Brigitte Zaczek

[guitar2tom]

Allez Gaby, c'est pas grave si tu as une Smallman( une boîte en plastique comme on dit), ton fa dièse de la fin est toujours aussi poignant....

[carystrings]

Regardless of one's taste in instruments, this is a wonderful performance..full out romantic period.

[Bovegar]

Playing a Smallman guitar or a guitar with Lattice bracings which it is, is just great to finally feel a dynamic range which a normal guitar has. Playing a normal guitar after a Lattice guitar feels very week. But there are builders who make Lattice guitar and still get a good tone. Check out Philip Woodfield and his concert guitar modle. I have tried one and it was brilliant. Good tone, dynamic, ovetones and sustain.

[castingcost]

yeah yeah, who cares

[RandomMocker]

Real musicians.

[tennstedt]

the main difference in my opinion is that smallman players are people who have a great need of control, and who consider the instrument as a "tool" which must give them a full interpretation freedom. on the other hand, most of the traditional guitar players consider the guitar nearly as a person that has weeknesses and own caracteristics, so who will limit them but allow unexpected things to happen. which is sometimes marvelous.

[Dhammawitt]

raises a good question...Are musicians held accountable for their choice of guitars? Isnt that part of their musical taste? Even with plenty of exceptions it seems to me that my favorite, most musical players have Bernabes, Marvis, Old Master guitars.....etc and the players with the driest musical sense tend to play Smallmans and the like. There are exceptions of course but it makes an interesting case.

[nmclay]

I would not know a Smallman if I fell over one. All I knew is that I REALLY dislike the tone of this guitar, even in the masterful hands in this video. Just as I loved the sound of the old John Williams recordings but now I cannot stand them. is that a Smallman? I would not know.

[tennstedt]

maybe I defend smallman bad cause I also don't really like these guitars, i think the same thing about them, but first it's just an opinion and second, the way he plays here, you can't say it sounds thin and nasally. and if you think he'd buy a guitar just cause it's trendy you're really lowering him as a musician. he chose his instrument and this choice is somehow part of the performance. that's why i say it's ridiculous to criticize him playing a smallman when the final result sounds well.

[svindland]

Listened before reading these comments... thought his musicality and playing was brilliant, but hated the sound of his guitar. No matter how much he shapes and colours the notes, it sound like a box of plastic. So sorry, the final result doesn't sound well, and that is only due to a ridicoulus instrument. What a pitty!

[tennstedt]

nmclay : could you and all other smallman haters stop crticizing just cause you see he's playing a smallman?? I mean it's rediculous, can you honestly say that his performance doesn't sound well? so listen with your ears, not with your eyes! besides, smallman are not so cheap guitars, so if he has one, it means that it's his choice, not that he can't afford a better one... do you really think this guy has shit in the ears and can't recognise a good sounding guitar?

[Dhammawitt]

did u read the posts? nmclay even wrote "wonderful performance".

question is why are u defending the smallman so bad? I think its you who should listen with your ears. Can't you hear what a smallman sounds like? Thin, nasally, (but loud) I owned 4 or 5 lattices and got rid of all of them because of these traits. Its trendy thats why people buy them. Get over it and start listening

[torisand]

Stunning!

[tennstedt]

du grand !

[guitar2tom]

superbe fa # à 3:20 gatsby...

[nmclay]

What a wonderful performance with a truly awful sounding guitar. Get this man a Fleta! With tone like that he should find a better guitar....

[scrotobaggins]

freakin beautiful. Damn fine playing.

[raulrolonguitar]

Yes, dear fortissimo25, but it depends on your hands, because he has a strange curve downwards, so he need longer nails (sorry for my english) I hope this answer your question...

[fortissimo25]

lovely piece and performance, but it grosses me out that his nails are so long on his right hand.. i dunno, i dont play guitar, is that usual??

[Dhammawitt]

HA, another smallman, poor Norbert. Excellent playing though.

Is there a naxos dvd of this stuff yet?

[suramerica]

Super! Although, what is all that noise coming from?