Adam Holzman plays El Niño by Antonio Lauro

Adam Holzman playing Antonio Lauro’s ‘El Niño’ via GSI on a Dominique Field guitar. Holzman oozes musicality on this short and sweet performance. I’ve never really understood Holzman’s right-hand technique but he pulls everything off nevertheless. For people that have issues with the thumb nail just check out his solution. There is solution for everyone. Get the sheet music via Amazon.

Guitar: 2013 Dominique Field (http://tinyurl.com/kdu5fop). Here’s Adam Holzman playing Antonio Lauro’s ‘El Niño’ as he tries out his brand-new Dominique Field guitar at the Guitar Salon International showroom in Santa Monica, CA. http://www.guitarsalon.com/

Bradford Werner
Bradford Werner

Bradford Werner is a classical guitarist and music publisher from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. He originally created this site for his students at the Victoria Conservatory of Music but now shares content worldwide. Curating guitar content helps students absorb the culture, musical ideas, and technique of the classical guitar. Bradford also has a YouTube channel with over 94,000 subscribers and 13 million views. He taught classical guitar at the Victoria Conservatory of Music for 16 years and freelanced in Greater Victoria for 20 years and now dedicates much of his time curating content online and helping connect the classical guitar community. See more at his personal website.

8 Comments

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  1. Keep a few points in mind people. One, he’s hanging out at Guitar Salon International, not “in concert” so-to-speak. Two, it’s not his regular guitar. Three, many people might go for the latin improvisational feel over the strict observation of the score. If there is some left out he was probably just giving an except to try out the guitar.

  2. He plays wonderfully while holding the guitar in an unorthodox (for most of us) manner.
    Bradford, or anyone, any comment on this?

    • Oscar Ghiglia once said to me “Well, then don’t play it!” when I told him I couldn’t hold an important note through several left hand finger changes, Which of course, led me that night to figure out how to sustain the note and play the succeeding notes. . . . Leading me to comment that, obviously, if what works for others doesn’t for you, find a way for you (which Mr. Holzman clearly has―for him!

      A little boy learning Zen from a great master noticed one day that when the master wanted to make a point to a student, he raised a finger in emphasis. The little boy began imitating his master, raising his finger each time he pontificated about some insight into life. Upon noticing the young acolyte shake a finger in the face of a fellow student, the master seized his hand and cut the imitating finger off, saying, “This is my finger”

  3. It’s actually worse than that: It is not merely “repetetions left out” – actually whole – stunningly beautiful – sections are left out…. I wonder which edition is was used for the performance?
    Maybe a newer – abbreviated – one that I am unaware of?

  4. Very technically clean and secure, but rhythm should be overall straight – waltzy – not rubato all the time. Next: Vibrato can enhance a performance, but not create one, so it should be used with much moderation, not every now and then as is the case here.
    Also I believe that the original repetition signs as – written by the author – should be strictly observed – the music is of a high quality and does not need to be reduced in length or otherwise modified.

  5. Were all those arpepgiations – is that a word? – were they written into the score? I find rolling just about every chord to be a distraction. I would like to hear Adam play this tune without all the arpeggios. Usually subtleties wrest the most emotion out of a tune. It is the same reason that I do not listen to Segovia. Rolling everything just tries to wring too much emotion out of a piece and ends up killing it. At the end of an evening, it can be down right annoying.

    Please, don’t beat up on me. I have just made an observation. Adan is an amazing guitarist. Adam, if you read this, please understand my point.