Skip to main content

The San Diego Symphony Presents the Royal Family of Guitar


The San Diego Symphony presents The Romeros: Royal Family of Guitar from May 16th to May 19th, 2013. The Romero Quartet started in the 1960 based upon the idea of the father Celedonio Romero and his sons. After the group’s father passed away in 1996 he was replaced by his grandson to keep the family tradition alive.  The Romeros are a beautiful example of classical guitar that provides sweet sensation to the ears. You almost feel as though you are in Spain. Tapas anyone?

The Romeros are also known as The Royal Family of Guitar as their music delves into traditional Spanish style of strings. The New York Times states their opinion of the classical guitar group as "Collectively, they are the only classical guitar quartet of real stature in the world today; in fact, they virtually invented the format." They have traveled the world and sold out a great many performances.  Admirers include thousands of people ranging from Ed Sullivan to Pope John Paul II.


JahJa Ling was the music director of the evening. He is now an American citizen of Chinese descent. He began playing the piano in his toddler years, earned the Rockefeller grant to study music thereafter earning a master’s degree.  He founded the San Francisco Youth Orchestra as well as the Cleveland Youth Orchestra. At present, he is the music director at the San Diego Symphony. You can see his seasoned skill by the graceful movements of his baton.

The history of a quartet is an interesting one that ranges back to old Europe. Symphonies were designed for public consumption while chamber music was more for private audiences in wealthy aristocratic homes. At the end of the Eighteenth Century, string quartets emerged as a leading chamber music form. The use of string instruments was easy to transport as well as easy to manage.

Using string music avoided problems with blending multiple instruments into a single music chord. Having less than four players limited the types of music that could be played while using more than four players created acoustic blending problems. It helped to avoid monotonous tones stemming from using the same instrument over and over.  The quartet is more common today for public audiences as well as background music in restaurants.

You can see the presentation at the beautiful Copley Hall. It is worth visiting at least once in your lifetime. It maintains its old world charm with artistic design, style, and artisanship being apparent. Tiles in the ceiling, large hanging paintings, and an acoustically designed auditorium are part of its charm. If you seek a flutter of musical mastery then purchase your tickets for new shows.





Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Meaning of A Boundless Moment by Robert Frost

A Boundless Moment by Robert Frost He halted in the wind, and — what was that Far in the maples, pale, but not a ghost? He stood there bringing March against his thought, And yet too ready to believe the most. "Oh, that's the Paradise-in-bloom," I said; And truly it was fair enough for flowers had we but in us to assume in march Such white luxuriance of May for ours. We stood a moment so in a strange world, Myself as one his own pretense deceives; And then I said the truth (and we moved on). A young beech clinging to its last year's leaves. The poem is one of seasons changing and the cycle of life. Each May the bloom comes out and brings life to the death of winter. The poem is about a single moment when the characters see that life has changed. The layers of meaning can be deep but on the surface it appears Robert Frost is discussing nature and its cyclical momentum.   Everything in nature moves through patterns. The poem indicates that

Art Review: The Kiss by Gustav Klimt

The Kiss is Gustav Klimt’s most famous and well known painting. Produced in 1908 in Vienna, Austria and incorporated oil and gold life on the canvas ( 1 ). This was unique for his time and represents both tile works with Asiatic influence. The painting and the romance it brings forward is still wonderment to onlookers. The picture depicts a passionate relationship between a man and woman in a sort of perfect place.  The couple is embracing, bodies entwined, wearing robes of wealth and decadence. It provides linear constructs of the Art Nouveau style and the movement of arts with crafts ( 2 ). The male is square and masculine while the woman painted is in curves to represent femininity. The couple is a pair with the woman and man equal in stature. They are in a field of flowers and appear to rise above it.  To many this painting represents the concept that love has no bounds. Social position or worldly wealth cannot hide what goes on under the fancy clothes and standard m

The Nine Parries of Saber Fencing

The Parry is important for defending against attacks and offers an opportunity to counter attack. Without learning parries it will be difficult to effectively compete in fencing. Your body will be generally open to seasoned fencers. Practicing defending against attacks using multiple parries is important for creating the highest levels of competitive skill. The most common parries used are Parry of Four, Parry of Six, Parry of Seven, and Parry of Eight ( 1 ). They are designed to protect your right side, left side, lower stomach, middle of your stomach. They are parries designed to cover the core areas of your body and help you defend against the majority of fencing attacks.   Prime: Stops a cut to the chest. Seconde: Stops a low cut to the flank Tierce: Stops high cut to the flank Quarte: Stops high cut to the chest. Quinte: Stops cut to head. Sixte : Stops cut to head. Septime: Stops cut to back. Octave: Stops cut to flank. Neuvieme: Protects Back Mic