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Gold CD + Top clear vinyl VELUT LUNA

Blind test - Lecture - Concert​

Guitar made by Fabio Zontini inspired by Torres Papier Mâché FE14 1862

Aquila Strings - gut and rayon

Federica Artuso, Papier-Mâché guitar

Project to rediscover a forgotten sound:

Antonio De Torres' cardboard guitar preserved at the “Museu de la Musica” in Barcelona

 

The project is a tribute to Antonio De Torres, the ‘Stradivarius of the guitar’ and his Papier-Mâché, a guitar made of cardboard instead of wood, a poor material with little consistency, normally unsuitable for making a musical instrument; but skilfully worked by the luthier's hands, papier-mâché frees itself of the ballast of being an acoustically lazy material to become an inspiring sound.

The event opens with a spectacular moment. The guitarist, alone on stage in the darkened hall behind a curtain and hidden from the eyes of the audience, plays a piece on three guitars. Two are valuable historical instruments (Torres and Garcia) and one is a copy of the Papier-Mâché guitar made of cardboard. Those in the audience will only see the silhouette of Federica Artuso, projected on the white screen, without knowing which of the three guitars she is playing at that moment: they will find out at the end of the event.

The ‘blind test’ rehearsal is a very unusual situation for a spectator; it is meant to be a game with the audience, who will be able to guess which of the three is the Papier-Mâché guitar. We guarantee that it is not easy and that there is usually no shortage of surprises. Among those who will have guessed which is the Papier-Mâché guitar, the name of the person who will receive a free record recorded by Federica with this instrument and a short book written by Fabio Zontini on the history of the Papier-Mâché guitar will be drawn.

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Here the trailer:​

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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THE LECTURE​

After the blind test, luthier Fabio Zontini presents the mysterious history of this instrument. Torres's Papier-Mâché was a unique case in the history of violin making, and not only guitar making: Torres was the first and, as far as we know, the only one to build the only known Papier-Mâché instrument in 1862. The aim of the event is to rediscover and revive the peculiar timbre and sound characteristics of this interesting guitar, since the original, which is conserved at the Museum of Music in Barcelona, is no longer able to express its voice. The Papier-Mache' paradoxically, in spite of its apparent humility, restores a fascinating, mysterious and unique world of sound.

Luthier Fabio Zontini took up the challenge set by Torres and has been building Papier-Mâché copies for almost twenty years. The one we will hear in concert was completed in 2023, weighs just 995 grams and is fitted with natural gut strings.

The Papier-Mâché is a living contradiction because of the juxtaposition between the poor material it is made of and the artistically surprising sonic result. And inspired by this contraposition, a programm was conceived that is emblematic of the paradox that embodies the identity of the guitar, always poised between the poor, authentic and popular soul on the one hand and the Olympus of cultured music on the other.

 

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THE CONCERT

After the lecture, Fabio Zontini's Papier-Mâché copy will be played by Federica Artuso. The repertoire is all by guitarist-composers who lived in the era of the cardboard guitar and had to deal with Torres' instruments. These guitarists are part of that performing tradition and sound poetics of which the Papier-Mâché is a symbol.

 Opening the concert will be the folk-inspired pieces by Arcas and Parga, composers who attempted to elevate the guitar to the status of a cultured instrument, without managing to emancipate themselves from flamenco reminiscences. Their style is perfectly suited to the archaic essentiality of the sound of the Papier-Mâché and their music, although strongly rooted in the popular language, gradually leads us to the bourgeois and salon style of Tarrega, a pupil of Arcas. The latter's music is no longer just for those with flamenco blood running through their veins or for those who consider opera the only cultured music. It is music that appeals to intellectuals and, if it admits some dancing, it does so as long as it is salon music. Unlike the guitarist-composers who preceded him, Tarrega succeeds in packing expressive impulses into totally accomplished forms.

Miguel Llobet, a pupil of Tarrega, is best known as a composer for his guitar version of the Canciones populares catalanas. The part of the programme about him also features a repertoire of which he is not the author, but which faithfully represents him. Maria Luisa Anido was Llobet's pupil and his partner in a guitar duo. The Argentinian musician was one of the last guitarists in the 1950s to use gut strings - now difficult to find - and, among other things, was the owner of Tarrega's Torres (1864, FE17). Anido is the emblem of the image of the guitar as a watershed between the world of folk music and that of cultured music. This is demonstrated by his irresistible transcriptions from the great classics such as Bach, Mozart, Tchaikowsky and his South American pieces, pulsating with indigenous energy.

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PROGRAMME

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Julian Arcas (1832-1882)

Bolero y Soleà

 

Carlos Garcia Tolsa (1858-1905)

Al fin solos

 

Juan Parga (1843-1899)

Mi lira op.8 n.1 Ramillete de salon

 

Francisco Tarrega (1852-1909)

Maria Gavota, Adelita Mazurka, Alborada Caixa de Música

 

Enrique Granados (1867-1916) Trascrizione M. Llobet

Danza española n.5 Andaluza

 

Miguel Llobet (1878-1938)

El testament de n’Amelia y Canço de lladre

 

Maria Luisa Anido (1907-1996)

Cancion de Yucatan, El misachico, Boceto indigena,

Minuetto dal Don Juan di Mozart (trascrizione M.L. Anido)

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A video taken from the concert at the National Museum of Musical Instruments in Rome:

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THE ALBUM​

The project was completed with the release in June 2024 of an album (top clair vinyl 180 g and gold CD) on the Velut Luna label with music by Arcas, Parga, Garcia Tolsa, Tarrega, Llobet and Anido. The Velut Luna label pays great attention to the high fidelity of the sound pick-up at the recording stage and the quality of the vinyl at the production stage.

Since its release, the album has won numerous critical awards:

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-Chitarra d'Oro (Golden Guitar Award) for Best Solo Album, awarded by the committee of the 30th International Guitar Conference in Milan

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-Disc of the Month in May 2024 on MusicVoice (listened to a preview by music critic Andrea Bedetti of MusicVoice, review at link: https://musicvoice.it/da-antonio-de-torres-a-fabio-zontini-elogio-della-chitarra-di-cartone/);

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-Amadeus d'oro in the magazine Amadeus November 2024 (review by Marco Riboni).

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-presented between the two new discs in Japanese magazine Gendai Guitar in September 2024

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-review (4 stars) in the Italian magazine Musica in March 2025

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-presentation in the radio broadcast PrimoMovimento di Radio 3 RAI.

  Click here to listen to the episode!

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-presentation in the radio broadcast The Intimate Guitar in Ohio, USA.

  Click here to listen to the episode!

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You can also listen to the album on Spotify! 

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​SCHEDULE

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The Sound Of Papier-Mâché project in the form of a lecture-concert or just a concert has so far taken place on the following dates:

 

-11 November 2023 conference-concert at the National Museum of Musical Instruments in Rome. In addition to the video of the conference mentioned above, some videos of Federica Artuso's performances from the concert in Rome can be seen on the RomaExpoGuitar YouTube channel. At the following link you can see the performance of some pieces by Francisco Tarrega: Federica Artuso plays Papier Maché in Rome.

 

- 27 January 2024 online concert publication on the SiccasGuitars YouTube channel visible by clicking here.

 

- 9 March 2024 conference-concert at the ‘Braga’ Conservatory in Teramo as part of the meetings dedicated to the 19th century guitar;

 

-27 March 2024 lecture-concert at the International Guitar Festival of the Conservatory of Adria (RO);

 

-27 July 2024 h 10 a.m. lecture-concert as part of the ‘Meeting with luthiers’ by Maestro Stefano Grondona, the only guitarist to have published recordings with the original Papier-Mâché.

 

-27 July 2024 h 21 concert by Federica Artuso on Papier-Mâché guitar and on original Torres guitar for the International Guitar Festival ‘Luigi Legnani’ in Edolo (BS)

 

-28 August 2024 conference-concert with presentation of the record at the GuitarMaster Lago d'Orta Festival

-13 December 2024 lecture-concert with record presentation at the Conservatorio ‘Bonporti’, Riva del Garda (TN)

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Upcoming events:

-6 April 2025 Fabio Zontini's lecture on the Papier-Mâché guitar, Mostra di liuteria Marziali

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-16 May 2025 Concert on the Papier-Mâché guitar with Federica Artuso, Conservatory of Sassari

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-28-30 May 2025 Concert on the Papier-Mâché guitar and masterclass in Oristano (Sardinia)

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-October 2025 lecture on the Papier-Mâché guitar by Fabio Zontini, Rotary Club Bressanone (Bolzano)​

 

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