Hey!

Filmed by a dancing camera and played standing up. Zoe Barbett brings a breath of fresh air in the video of the week.

Anne Haasch teaches us: If you are recording an album with pieces by a composer as well-known as Tedesco and get the opportunity to talk to some of their contemporaries, you should do it! Tedesco also plays a role in the interview with the fantastic Andrea de Vitis. In addition, he gives us many insights into the practice and fascination of passing on and living on musical know-how. You could say that Andrea de Vitis, a young professor at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, has made this issue a particularly inspiring one.

Leon Albert was inspired, too – he has another etude ready for you and the regularity with which he delivers here is both pleasantly expected and absolutely surprising. Big shout-out.

And by the way, folks: our feel-good tune of the week is a great way to start the day! We chose “Favorite Song” on the first ballot for this issue without any dissenting votes.

But now have fun practicing, performing, teaching and listening, and last but not least:

Have fun with this issue.
Stefan und Willi

YOUTUBE FIND OF THE WEEK
with Zoe Barnett

As the camera dances around Zoe Barnett, the whole room seems to bend. Apart from that, it's really cool how she performs Canción y Danca by Antonio Ruiz Pipo standing up and with a belt. Incidentally, this is an option that we also like to come back to when practicing. Because it's somehow liberating to walk around the room while playing. Regardless of that, we love this composition. It has something nostalgic about it. Something dreamy. And the dance interprets it all in an energetic, playful way. Definitely worth watching!

ALBUM OF THE WEEK
with Anne Haasch & Natalie Pérez

An album dedicated exclusively to one composer: it happens here and there. Also with Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. After all, he has written enough for our instrument ... This LP, however, is the cream of the crop if we were to draw a comparison at all. So what exactly is it about?

“In addition to his first work for solo guitar and his setting of the famous Capricho El sueño de la razón produce monstruos by Francisco de Goya, this album contains one of his last great works: the song cycle The Divan of Moses Ibn-Ezra. Two decisive phases of Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s life can be heard here: on the one hand his first meeting with the guitarist Andrés Segovia in 1932 in Venice, which served as an initial spark, and on the other the mature late work of his years in exile and his confrontation with the loss of his homeland.“

For this album project, Anne Haasch has immersed herself in Tedesco’s world. She was able to talk personally to Walter Arlen (composer), a companion and close friend, and to his granddaughter Diana Castelnuovo-Tedesco, and so she brings us many background details about the individual pieces, as well as Tedesco's life and environment.

Therefore, make sure to buy the physical CD so you can read the booklet ;)

If we were critics, we would give it six out of five stars.

MORNING-ROUTINE
A coffee with Leon Albert

Hi Leon, what’s the routine for this week?

Using open strings, as well as taking full advantage of the fact that every dissonance, no matter how bad, actually sounds good on the guitar and that the instrument's characteristics can always lead you to new and unheard-of chords. That is so beautiful. Even though all the notes are wrong. The resulting routine: the courage to be dissonant, the courage to play “wrong” notes. There’s no such thing as a wrong note anymore anyway. They’ve all been sold long ago.

KNOW-HOW
with Andrea de Vitis

As a professor at Mozarteum University Salzburg, Andrea de Vitis not only shapes the next generation of guitarists, but also enriches the international scene with his artistic finesse. We are particularly enthusiastic about his recordings of the works by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. Great musicality and interpretative depth. We find that his artistic abundance is also evident in this interview, where we talk about how to pass on the art of guitar playing to the next generation. Therefore, we’re all the more pleased that he took the time to answer our questions.

Hi Andrea, your interpretation of Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s works has been widely praised for its clarity and emotional depth. How do you guide your students in approaching such complex composers without losing their own musical voice?
I truly believe that approaching complex repertoire does not pose a risk of "losing one’s musical voice" – as long as the repertoire is well understood and the student’s voice has been thoughtfully cultivated and enriched, rather than being merely instinctive. First and foremost, my role as a teacher is to guide students in discovering their own musical ideas and personality. This is, of course, something deeply intimate and closely tied to one’s imagination and inner resonance. At the same time, it is something that must be cultivated with full awareness and enriched through cultural depth and a solid grounding in the interpretative tradition. This journey is beautifully complex – and deeply fascinating – but it resists the fast-paced, often superficial logic of today’s social media culture.

How do you help students avoid superficial approaches and connect more deeply with the music?
One of the greatest risks we face today, in an era saturated with constant streams of information and “content” (of varying quality), is the development of a kind of "savoir faire" that lacks true cultural foundation. This can lead to a sort of unconscious choice that prevents deep personalization of the musical text – because, quite simply, the text itself may not have been properly understood. In such cases, the joy of interpreting and expressing one’s voice is never fully realized, and the interpretative process turns into something mechanical – almost like administrative work – leaving no real room for the musician’s personality to emerge.

For example, what practical steps would you suggest for students who want to tackle Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s more complex works?
For instance, if a student wishes to approach a formally complex work by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco – such as the Sonata "Omaggio a Boccherini” or the Passacaglia "Omaggio a Roncalli” – I often encourage them to begin with shorter, less complex pieces by the same composer (like the Appunti, Greeting Cards, Preludi Mediterranei or his chamber music) or works by contemporaries of his time. This way, they can gradually build a deeper understanding of the composer’s language, allowing for a more conscious and personal interpretation – one that harmoniously blends their individuality with the richness of the music.

Your recent projects seem to reflect a growing interest in contemporary repertoire. Can you tell us more about how this focus influences your teaching, and how you encourage students to embrace new music alongside the classical canon? 
Having experience with contemporary music – as well as improvisation and composition – makes every musician more aware of their own musical approach and, most importantly, more free in expressing it. I've often noticed that when I encourage students to step outside their comfort zone, the benefits are reflected even in traditional repertoire, which they then approach with greater conviction and energy.

In your opinion, what aspects of teaching guitar students have changed compared to the time when you were a student yourself? 
Today it has become more difficult to create and sustain the enthusiasm and joy of making music – both because of the nature of the society we live in and, at times, due to how music is taught and how the profession is perceived. More than ever, there is a deep need for culture and creativity. I believe this is one of the greatest challenges every teacher faces today: to inspire students not only to master their instrument, but to stay truly connected to the passion and meaning behind the music.

Imagine you could have one sentence printed on a poster to be put up in huge numbers at all the (classical) music festivals in the world. What sentence would that be?
Something that we really need today, about mutual respect and hope: Let music be the sound of kindness.

FEEL-GOOD TUNE OF THE WEEK
with Sinkane

An upbeat and positive melody! It makes you want to jump out of bed in the morning. Or take a look at the sky in the middle of the day. Stress? Bad news? Put on your headphones, let your hair blow in the wind and jump on the good mood train!

Our feel-good tune of the week!

OUTRO

Thanks for reading! Check out our newsletter playlist (link below). Be good to each other.

Stay tuned!
Stefan & Willi

New Classical Guitar is a newsletter by Willi Leinen and Stefan Degel from TMBM. You can find our music and more information about our journey at http://t-m-b-m.com/.

On Spotify, we curate a playlist with our favorite pieces. Feel free to follow our New Classical Guitar Playlist at https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3ZwxJRAsW9Zs2JiS2eLy6a?si=9b2a737f01c043a4 and recommend new additions.