Encore!

Wow! Tonight we went to the opening concert of the Querétaro International Guitar Festival. It is the third time I have attended the opening concert (Christiane missed it last year because she insists on teaching evening French classes), but at least Ramon was there. It must be his 15th. But Elvira wasn’t. Women just don’t like guitar music, I guess.

The opening concert, as with the last two years, was with Hilario Yañez, the rising young classical guitarist of Querétaro and San Juan del Rios. He played the usual repertoire of Villa-Lobos and Leo Brouwer, nice, but becoming a little tiresome (sorry Hilario), and then he played, with two violins, a viola and cello, Bach’s concierto in Re Major, adapted to the guitar. Spectacular! Standing ovation! Encore! I think he was surprised and a little pleased at the reception. Every year Hilario gets better.

This year, not only did he get better (hard to figure out how he could get better, but he did) he also had his new Paracho guitar. It probably cost 6 month’s salary at the Guadalupe Velasquez school where Hilario now teaches. Ramon, the usual American suspects, and Christiane and I thought this was the best concert yet, and we wonder how he will improve on it next year. Even the event organizer, Ramiro Martinez, who used to live in the house Bob and Maria bought and fixed up this year, thought it was great. There was truly a sense of something special in the air. Christiane says that Hilario’s concerts will now be in the Teatro de la Republica instead of the Museo de Arte, and they will start charging. I hope so for Hilario’s sake, and I will gladly pay to attend, but I really enjoy the free concerts, not only are they free, but they are great at showcasing developing talent.

I think this is Hilario’s first attempt at a concierto with strings, at least in public. I think it points to his future. I would love a recording. I just hope he reads this.

Prior to this concert, Hilario was renowned for his previous appearances at the festival, of course, but also for playing at Caroline’s wedding in December and our house-warming in August. But the most fun was when he played dueling guitars with Ramon and Felipe, Danny’s uncle, in our living room after the wedding. Ah, the simple pleasures. Now if I could convince Mamita and Nathalie to play a little concert for my birthday, maybe with a little classical guitar thrown in, that would be truly splendid.