{"id":4569,"date":"2016-07-14T10:03:24","date_gmt":"2016-07-14T17:03:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/?p=4569"},"modified":"2016-07-14T13:33:52","modified_gmt":"2016-07-14T20:33:52","slug":"venezuelan-guitar-titan-alirio-diaz-dies-at-92-an-appreciation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/venezuelan-guitar-titan-alirio-diaz-dies-at-92-an-appreciation\/","title":{"rendered":"Venezuelan Guitar Titan Alirio D\u00edaz Dies at 92\u2014An Appreciation"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Graham Wade<\/strong><\/p>\n

The passing of Alirio D\u00edaz<\/a>, one of the greatest guitar maestros of the 20th century, on July 5 at the age of 92, was a sad event for the multitude of guitar lovers who attended his recitals and bought his many recordings. His playing was phenomenal\u2014full of vigor and insight\u2014and quite different from any other player of his era.<\/p>\n

D\u00edaz studied for five years with Ra\u00fal Borges (a friend of both Agust\u00edn Barrios Mangor\u00e9 and Antonio Lauro), and went on to sit at the feet of Regino S\u00e1inz de la Maza and Andr\u00e9s Segovia, thus directly receiving a powerful tradition of technique and musical wisdom. Yet he always played in a uniquely individual style, achieving a mastery in his performances of effortless musicality and compelling bravura. <\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>His musical roots lay in the folk music of his native Venezuela, and as a youth he played the cuatro, <\/em>the guitar, and the mandolin\u2014though without reading music. Beginning at age 19 he worked for three years as a typographer with the Trujillo State Press, moving to Caracas in 1945. When he was 22, D\u00edaz began guitar lessons with Borges, and over the next five years he learned the basis of classical technique. In 1948 D\u00edaz \u00a0first encountered Segovia\u2019s editions.<\/p>\n

In November, 1950, D\u00edaz moved to Spain on a Venezuelan government scholarship and studied for three years with S\u00e1inz de la Maza at the Royal Madrid Conservatoire. In the summer months, D\u00edaz enrolled in Segovia\u2019s courses in Siena, studying with the great maestro from 1951 until 1963. In 1954 he was promoted to be Segovia\u2019s assistant, with a wide range of responsibilities.<\/p>\n

I did not hear Alirio D\u00edaz in recital until the 1970s, though I had acquired a number of his recordings during the previous decade. I first met him after a concert in Wakefield, England, in February 1977. I remember it was a bitterly cold, snowy night, so cold even inside that the audience kept their thick winter coats on. As Alirio played, a chill breeze swept constantly across the platform and the listeners in the front rows could feel the stiff draft. Unperturbed, the recitalist played Bach\u2019s Third Cello Suite<\/em> and the Chaconne <\/em>with great brilliance. The second half consisted of music from Venezuela and Spain, featuring Lauro, Turina and Granados, as well as Castelnuovo-Tedesco\u2019s Tarantella. <\/em>The concert concluded with six South American pieces, including Cueca <\/em>by Barrios and Canci\u00f3n Mexicana <\/em>by Ponce.<\/p>\n

In the green room I was thrilled to meet the artist, and he politely remarked, though it was our first encounter, \u201cPleased to see you again!\u201d I commented on the coldness of the hall and in response he shook hands. His fingers were absolutely chilled, yet he had played through a difficult program with impeccable skill in what many would consider impossible conditions.<\/p>\n

D\u00edaz\u2019s inexorable path to the summit of the guitar hierarchy followed an unusual period of learning and dedication. To the world he became the ambassador of Venezuelan music, yet he was also master of any repertoire he touched, excelling whether in Renaissance music, the intricacies of Bach, or the exuberance and passion of Rodrigo\u2019s Concierto de Aranjuez, <\/em>and Invocacion y Danza <\/em>(which was dedicated to him).<\/p>\n

His technique was truly dazzling \u2014I saw him as the Horowitz of the guitar, the peerless virtuoso for whom playing was always natural and easy. The sound he produced from the guitar was truly his own\u2014vibrant, colorful, full of the warm south, with a compelling momentum, yet always elegant, balanced, and utterly musical.<\/p>\n

He was a player deeply admired and immensely loved by the general public and guitarists alike. Alirio D\u00edaz was a great musician who elevated the art of the guitar to unprecedented heights. His achievements in performance, recordings, and editions remain as permanent testimonies to one of the major artists of our time.<\/p>\n

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(Here’s a video of D\u00edaz\u00a0playing Seis por Derecho<\/em> by his countryman Antonio Lauro.)<\/p>\n