The International Guitar Competition in Montenegro developed new directions this year. In addition to the foremost classical guitar contest, also includes an electro and acoustic guitar contest that were organized in Podgorica by the support of the Hard Rock Cafe. The primary classical guitar contest started on Friday, May 25th, at the Tivat Cultural Center and was presented in two categories - a solo guitar and guitar chamber ensembles. The competition participants of 2018 came from Bulgaria, Denmark, Hungary, the UK, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Germany, Italy, and France. Last night, the nine-member jury chose the winner in the category of professional solo guitarist (with no age limit). 21-year-old Julia Trinchuk from Germany received the first prize, and a handcrafted guitar by Andreas Marvi was handed to the young talent in person by the Spanish guitar maker. „I really enjoyed the beautiful place and the performances and didn't expect the victory at all," said the young Julia.
The MIGC 2018 winners Julia Trinchuk (1st prize), Dominik Carevic (2nd prize), Marko Radojkovic (3rd prize)
The 12th Guitar Competition will be chiefly remembered by the participants and the audience for another great event organized with the support of Porto Montenegro Luxury Village. The superior and elegant classical guitarist Manual Barrueco will give a solo recital at the Naval Heritage Collection museum in Tivat tonight, and tomorrow the selected competitors will have an opportunity to visit the maestro's workshop.
Originally from Cuba, Manuel Barrueco made his career in the USA where his family immigrated in 1967 as political refugees. He began playing at the age of 8 and since then he couldn't imagine his life without the guitar. This pure love resulted in over three decades of concerts in the most magnificent music halls, wonderful collaborations with many symphony orchestras and famous names as Placido Domingo and Al Di Meola, an impressive number of recordings with some of them nominated for Grammys, and teaching full-time at the prestigious Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore.
We had a chance to meet maestro Barrueco before the concert.
You're invited to the Montenegro Guitar Competition as an honored guest. This is a very local occasion. Why did you decide to visit us?
There are two things. First, it's curiosity, as I have never been in this part of Europe before and I wanted to visit it. The other is that there are many talented guitarists coming from this area, so I think there must be something in the water they drink... There is indeed a remarkable number of world-class players from this region.
There are many musical competitions in the world, and some of them mean a lot for the future career of the young talents. Do you think these kinds of local competitions can be a step towards the success of the artist?
The world is changing very rapidly. It used to be that some famous competition would have been enough to make a career for somebody, but it's no longer a case. Now the world is much more connected, and the industry has changed. First of all, because of the Internet. Let's say years ago if you were signed to a big label they guaranteed you records and posters around the world; they created the publicity for you. But record shops don't exist anymore, now they are selling mostly online or at the concerts, and anybody can do that, and at the same time, being under financial pressure, big labels started making decisions that are not that artistic anymore.
I used to be very pure about these thoughts, you know: well, it's art, maybe there shouldn't be any competition, it's not something that you compete for. But now that I'm a little bit older, what I see is when you have an event like this, it inspires players to practice, it brings people together, so I think the benefits are much more than those "bad“ things as when some poor results discourage participants, etc.
So, is participating in musical contests healthy for one's development?
It depends on the player. I've seen some young people who really like doing it, and some of them don't. They just don't want to compete with others. And what I tell my students is that this is an opportunity: you can just go and play for the people, go and show them your art. I never tried to prepare anyone for the competition; I just encourage them to do what they love. In my opinion, the guitar, when played well, is irresistible.
So, in the modern world, what would be the right, proper way for a young musician to be promoted and make a career?
I don't know exactly; it is actually still being defined. I think we're moving somewhere to see how it's going to work. One good thing now is that anyone can make a recording and put it on Youtube, but that also means there is a lot of information of all kinds on Youtube. Anyway, people will make their decisions about what they like and don't like, and who is better.
You were very young when you received a Concert Artists Guild Award. Did that have a major impact on your future career?
Yes, that's right. Because in the USA at that time, the New York Times' reviews were compelling (they rarely do reviews now) and to have that at that time was very important. No one knew about this Manuel guy, and this was a way to sell your name. In that sense, it helped, and because of that I began to have professional management, and it opened the door to recordings, and different organizations wanted to have me at their events, so yes, that meant a lot.
Which competition can be of that importance for a young artist today?
It's very questionable. An ARD Competition, the most significant international competition in Germany, had a guitar contest last year, and they had a great TV concert from Munich with the Bavarian Symphony orchestra. And the winner (actually the second place, there was no first place, two guys shared the second prize, but he was the audience favorite) was a fantastic talent who happens to be just 17 years old at that time. I'm surprised that nothing much has happened of that because he is probably one of the greatest talents the world has ever seen. So, as for guitar specifically, I don't believe there's any competition of that kind.
Again, many years ago, when I was younger we used to hear about the Chaikovski competition winners – and we don't hear much about them anymore - it doesn't seem to be as prominent as it used to be. Maybe it's my fault, perhaps not. I'm not necessarily negative; I'm just saying the classical world is also changing, moving in another direction and I just don't know where it will finish.
Young artists participating in our small competition wish they could reach your fame someday. But it's not an easy life being a successful musician like you (concerts, recordings, teaching, etc.). Would you ever change something in your life?
It depends on which day you ask me, haha. I think when you're turning 30, or 40, or 50, it's different. If you're young, going around, visiting countries, playing concerts, it can be intoxicating with all the attention and people telling you how good you are. But as you get older, life is changing, and if you decide you want to have a family and children, this becomes complicated. It depends on what kind of life you want to have, especially if you're going to take care of your children. My experience tells me that as things go on it's all about finding a balance that works for one's particular situation.
How much time do you spend with the guitar every day on average?
Considering concerts and classes, some days can be up to 10 hours. Yeah, it takes a lot of time. But right now I'm in the process of rebalancing. You know, I have grandchildren now, four of them, and love them dearly, so I feel like I'm missing a bit. I'm more at the moment like I want to do things that I really want to do.
But it's taken all of your life to reach this place...
Yeah, right, and there are many sacrifices along the way. Just like a lot of rewards as well. It's not for everybody.
How do you know being a musician is your destiny? Are people born with this feeling or the understanding comes with time?
There is an expression: we don't choose who we fall in love with. It's like that. I didn't choose to be a musician; I just knew that I needed it in my life. So, the question is not about would I do that, but how would I manage it, how would I balance it.
Do you find the same feeling in your students?
I see in some that this is their life. To be honest, being a mentor means a lot of communication and developing the relationship with your students while helping them become better musicians, but if they don't feel like they really need it in their life, they should probably do something else. Because there's a tiny percentage of people doing this who have a career, and making all that effort and not loving it just doesn't make any sense.
You have several concerts a month of different kinds. What do you enjoy more: a solo recital or playing with a symphony orchestra?
These are two different things. When you're with the orchestra, it's more like a conversation, back and forth, and you have the rehearsals trying to understand each other. And that is in fact very rewarding. The solo is your show, you can say whatever you want, it is a monologue that has its beauty as well. When you are by yourself in a beautiful hall with great sound, and things go well, it's a pretty unique experience, when you feel the silence. Working with somebody else is more fun, you get new ideas, you learn from the other person.
You're doing the solo recital tonight in Tivat. How did you choose the repertoire?
It's based on the timeline, from the 16th century to modern times, with one exception: in the first half I play a renaissance piece, and a baroque and then I play a contemporary piece that is actually based on the first one because the Nin-Culmell piece is a variation of Luis de Milan. So, I do a little bit of crossing back to that. I mean, I love Bah and renaissance also, and the latest recording I did was music by Fernando Sor, so I'm playing them, and in the second half, I play the Spanish music because it's an excellent way to add to a guitar concert. I think most people still think of the guitar as Spanish music. Generally, it's a variety, it's like food tasting when you're brought different meals to taste. The guitar is an instrument which has a hushed voice, so it must be convincing. It can not yell at you, getting your attention whenever you want or not, so it's a matter of varying the plates but working together well.
If you had a chance to meet any musician who ever lived, who would you choose?
Oh... I wouldn't know how to compare composers in order to choose... Probably Bach would be the one, and Mozart is coming to my mind as well. And I would say Villa Lobos - he was the most influential guitar composer who has written a substantial amount of pieces. He had a unique way to look at the instrument, the way he used the instrument was by extracting natural sonorities and harmonies from that which ended up being only the guitar. He was Latin American and also a modernist in that area bringing the native sound from the Americas into the European forms.
And what about the other players? You've worked with many famous names, but maybe someone is missing on your list?
Well, sometimes I do something out of classics. And sometimes I wonder what if I sit down with a flamenco player, what would come out of that? Because some of the classical Spanish music is based on flamenco. I wonder what could bring a new light to it. I've done it once, it's called MEDEA by Manolo Sanlúcar, a ballet for the National Ballet of Spain and he let me make its arrangement with a classical guitar that we recorded. When I played that, I had to move a little bit to the flamenco thing because it sounded too classical. In fact, I actually called it flamenco dressing a frock.
