“Yiannis Efstathopoulos presents the launch of his recently-released album,
Seis Caprichos, on the
Passacaille label – a project re-framing the modern Spanish classical guitar canon around the largely forgotten output of the so-called Generation ’27. Composed in the 1930s, this music was only revived and published in recent decades; having fallen victim to the ravages of the Spanish Civil War. The first guitar works to be written by non-guitarist composers, dedicated to the guitarist Regino Sáinz de la Maza, they represent part of the compelling zeitgeist of an era protagonised by the genius of Federico García Lorca, at a fascinating time when the guitar was still searching for its place and formulating its identity within the art music of Spain and beyond. Based on historical informed approach and aiming to recreate an authentic sort of sound, Yiannis used exclusively gut and silk strings on a Santos Hernández-inspired guitar, like several owned by Sáinz de la Maza. This CD brings together a substantial selection of exceptional historical musicians, repertoire and instruments hopefully back to the limelight. Indeed, performance on a gut-strung instrument forces us to reconsider its origins and identity, and to look anew at what we know, think, and feel about the Spanish guitar.”