Italy’s ‘heir to Segovia’ dies at 80
RIPMany of Italy’s best classical guitarists turned out to carry the coffin of Angelo Gilardino, who died aged 80 after a short spell in an infectious diseases ward.
Gilardino performed all the classical reprtoire and wrote many new works including a Studi di virtuosità e di trascendenza (1981-1988) that is regarded as the guitar’s equivalent to Liszt’s Etudes. He also brought to light works written for Segovia by Cyril Scott, Lennox Berkeley and others.
A great master and a great loss for the classical guitar world.
It was Mrs Segovia who called Mr Gilardino, she opened him the Segovia archives where Gilardino discovered the nice treasures Norman mentioned above. Gilardino reviewed and edited all the new discoveries.
I had the great pleasure to make a masterclass with him and I still have good memories for the kind words of appreciation he gave to me. He was a generous man and his culture was wide open. He taught us to think the guitar as a full orchestra and he was making examples on how to get the sound of a clarinet or flute directly on the guitar. I was impressed by the wide knowledge he had. A very smart and curious person. I will greatly miss him. RIP Maestro Gilardino!