The Terrifying Spectacle of Andreas Segovia
When I was about 19 or 20, sometime around 1980 (the last of his years of strength as a guitarist), I attended a concert of Andreas Segovia at the Milwaukee Performing Arts Center I arrived about ten minutes before the concert, actually, I had been worried I would be late. But I made it in time and sat in the 13th row center. My attitude was that I would enjoy the concert and maybe learn something, or pick up some ideas. Little did I know,,,
The house lights went down, and Maestro Segovia walked on stage. I had noticed there were no microphones or sound system; no amplification of any kind. And this was in a venue holding 1200 people (I think). The Maestro was carrying his guitar, but for some reason, I didn’t think it was the Hauser guitar he usually played. It also occurred to me that here was a man who not only had been playing guitar at the top of the game for almost 70 years, he single handedly defined modern classical guitar. He sat down, checked his tuning, and looked around.
Then, his eyes fell upon me. And he stared at me. Yes, I was a victim of the dreaded Segovia Stare! With God as my witness, I was not fidgeting or making noise. I sat quietly and respectfully waited for the Maestro to play. Perhaps he didn’t like the way I looked (I was a rock & roll gladiator from hell with long scraggly hair, wearing a denim jacket and a colorful Jimi Hendrix t-shirt). After pinning me to my seat with his unnerving stare, he got up and walked off stage.
The audience was murmuring like “what the hell is going on.” I was terrified that I was somehow the cause of him walking off. Then he returned, carrying a different guitar, one that looked like his usual Hauser! I thought that he had read my mind and knew I recognized that the first guitar he carried wasn’t his usual one! From that moment on, I was scared to death of him. He knew more about me than I knew about myself.
Then he began to play.
Watching videos of Segovia is always a pleasure. But actually being there is quite another thing. Everyone heard every note he played. His sound filled the auditorium. Every phrase was sublime poetry, every note was a perfectly crafted work of art.
After the concert, he was speaking to some people near the stage. I considered approaching him with the same youthful brazenness I had once approached Joe Pass and others. But I didn’t; I was still scared of him. Needless to say, I regret not doing so. Even if he told me off, it would have made for a great story. I went home, picked up my guitar, and tried to play it. I couldn’t. I put it in its case and couldn’t touch it for three weeks.
In retrospect, Segovia set forces into motion that are still impacting the world of music. Some of it was not what he'd intended. And he was a flawed and imperfect man. He performed an act of alchemy on the guitar and on teh world of music at a time when the world was going through terribly upheavals. He could be a demagogue and even a bully.
But we owe him a debt. At this point, I would forgive him his very human failings and shortcomings and celebrate the good things he achieved.