VINTAGE FOOTAGE Saint-Saens, Guitarist Tomingas

This is Vintage footage of a concert at Hartnell College in Salinas, CA circa 1978. As to the Rondo Capriccioso, I simply loved the music and wanted to spend time with it on my instrument. This transcription added many new elements to guitar technique at the time and unfortunately winds up among the most demanding compositions to play on a guitar.

Saint-Saens wrote the Rondo Capriccioso for a Spanish violinist noted for adapting the mood of Flamenco guitar to his violin, Saint-Saens did the same when he wrote this work for orchestra and violin so perhaps my rendering is not so outlandish as it might seem at first glance. However, when I played it at the Carmel Classic Guitar Festival, one particular (& pompous in my view) reviewer took exception to it, however I was spared as I didn't know about this review until 20 years later when I chanced upon it. I had actually been highly disappointed my performance on that occasion but not for the reasons he touted in his review (bad taste). At the end of his scathing review he said basically he could not see why they gave me a standing ovation for that transcription. They DID that? I had forgotten completely about that part as I was so upset with my playing. But then the reviewer sank his own ship by insulting the audience indicating that they obviously did not have his maturity and understanding to see that a work like this should never be transcribed for a mere guitar. The audience was our peer guitar professionals, the up and coming, the established, composers, conductors, orchestra members, Luthiers and aficionados of the instrument; who better to judge a musical presentation? So, his review wound up being a backwards compliment.

My thought? If you do what your heart commands, music will bring you overwhelming passion and reward even in the simplest of forms. If, on the other hand, you do what you think others think you should do, it will be miserable slogging, find the fun in it, hop on the gentle breeze of creativity as it flows by and have a good life, the rest is trivia.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Camille
• Saint-Saens
• Byron
• Paul
• Tomingas
• classic
• guitar
• Rondo
• Capriccioso
• Stern
• Perlman

[galinagrossmann]

Beautiful music! Thank you. Love, Galina