Papier-Maché - Federica Artuso

Torres' Papier-Mâché was a unique case in the history of lutherie, not only for guitars: Antonio de Torres (1817-1892), now considered the Stradivari of the six strings, was the first and, as far as is known, the only one to build a Papier-Mâché instrument in 1862. This guitar, paradoxically, despite its apparent humility, produces a fascinating, mysterious and unique sound world. Since the original, preserved at the Museum of Music in Barcelona, is no longer able to express its voice, the album aims to rediscover and revive the peculiar timbral and sonic characteristics of this interesting instrument through the use of two inspired copies.

The luthier Fabio Zontini has taken up the challenge launched by Torres and has been building Papier-Mâché copies for almost twenty years. The two instruments used by Federica Artuso for the recording were made between April and September 2023 and both weigh (incredibly) just 995 grams. They also have natural gut strings. Zontini has thus created a kind of connection with the great Torres, capturing a kind of experiment-prototype by the Andalusian luthier, and successfully trying to spread it to the present day.

The Papier-Mâché is a kind of living contradiction precisely because of the contrast between the humble material it is made of and the artistically surprising sonic result. And inspired by this contrast, an emblematic program of that paradox that embodies the identity of the guitar was recorded, always poised between the humble soul, authentic and popular on one hand, and the Olympus of classical music on the other. The music recorded here is all by guitarist-composers who lived during the time of the cardboard guitar or who had dealings with Torres' instruments. These guitarists are part of that performing tradition and sonic poetics of which the Papier-Mâché is an emblem. Some of the pieces, although written by non-guitarist composers, are part of that repertoire with which the six strings are most identified.

Arcas and Parga* attempted to elevate the guitar to a classical instrument, without managing to completely emancipate themselves from flamenco reminiscences. Their style perfectly suits the archaic essentiality of the Papier-Mâché's sound, and their music, though strongly rooted in popular language, gradually leads us to the bourgeois and salon style of Garcia Tolsa* and Tarrega, pupils of Arcas. Their music is no longer just for those with flamenco blood in their veins or for those who consider opera the only classical music. It is music that appeals to intellectuals, and if it allows for dancing, it does so on the condition that it is a salon dance. From the musicians' point of view, unlike his predecessors, Tarrega manages to package expressive impulses into totally complete forms.

Miguel Llobet, a pupil of Tarrega, is known as a composer mainly for his guitar version of the Canciones populares catalanas. The part of the program concerning him also features a repertoire of which he is not the author, but which faithfully represents him and where all the innovations brought by his creative flair, which bring out what is most characteristic of the guitar, are evident.

Maria Luisa Anido was a pupil of Llobet, as well as his partner in a guitar duo. The Argentine musician was among the last guitarists in the 1950s to use gut strings - by then difficult to find - and, among other things, owned Tarrega's Torres (1864, FE17). Anido is the emblem of the guitar's image as a watershed between the world of folk music and that of classical music, a dichotomy that will probably never be fully resolved. This is demonstrated by her irresistible transcriptions of great classics such as Bach, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and her South American pieces, pulsating with indigenous energy.