BY ROSE DE LA MONTAÑA
Welcome to our new mini interview series, in which we chat with some of the world’s top classical guitarists — each in 5 minutes!
These artists will perform at the inaugural Guitar Perspectives Winter Celebration. In our first interview, we met Meng Su. Here, we introduce Adam del Monte!
Leading flamenco and classical guitarist Adam del Monte performs and composes music that stems from traditional styles and progressive forms. He has featured in Deutsche Grammophon recordings and performed with symphony orchestras across the world. You might’ve heard him in John Williams’ soundtrack for the Steven Spielberg film Munich; or in Mr and Mrs Smith and Toy Story 3. Adam is an award-winning artist and shares his skills as a teacher at USC Thorton School of Music.
There are purists in the world of flamenco and there are purists in the world of classical music. Have you ever felt compromised with your creative instincts as a result, or any kind of creative identity crisis? If so, how did you resolve this within yourself?
In the beginning, I did get some criticism and doubt from certain kinds of people — only from the classical side — that it would even be possible to pursue two such different styles.
I started playing flamenco and classical the same day, [learning] with my father for the first year, so for me it was the only path I could take to feel complete.
There are as much similarities as there differences between the two styles. Flamenco is based on the fundamental techniques of the classical guitar, but then expanded it with many other techniques such as rasgueados, alzapua, and a four-note tremolo. It was originally seen as the Spanish guitar, not one or the other. There were also some flamenco guitarists such as Ramon Montoya, Miguel Borrull, and Manolo de Huelva that also played some classical, especially Manolo de Huelva. Even [Andres] Segovia played some very old-school flamenco his whole life, just never in public.
I never felt compromised by either style because they complemented my technique and musical intuition; how I feel the different types of other music, and how I see it fitting in.
As far as the identity issue is concerned, that is definitely a thing. I did at times feel a very different person being flamenco and being classical. There is such a specific culture associated with each of them that are so opposed to each other, that I have to channel a certain part of me, while knowing what my other side is as well.
I listened to Llantos, a flamenco opera you composed, via your website. There is a long history of musical interaction and influence between the worlds of classical and flamenco musical traditions. What was it exactly that inspired composing Llantos for you? What was the story you wanted to tell, and how does it reflect your musical direction?
Llantos is the sum total of my musical life experience, crystallised into one new creation using the most complete medium in music: opera.
I had studied four years of musical high school: two in Talma-Yalin in Israel; and Chetham’s School of Music in England, where we learnt the usual classical analysis of all the Beethoven and Brahms symphonies and Stravinsky, etc. All that gave me the aesthetic exposure to know the classical music world, not just the classical guitar.
Living among the gyspies of Sacromonte in Granada also shaped my musical soul, which would later develop as my creative drive for endless explorations.
The story I wanted to tell was not only that of the expulsion of the Sephardi Jews and the suffering of the gypsies, but also highlight the fact of a constant reference to the Golden Age of Spain, and how the three main religions had 200 years of a very reasonable co-existence (9th-11th centuries), to say the least. It was a period of healthy debate and mutual learning and collaborations. I’ve never been a political musician or artist, but this just came out as a result of my own life experience and travels, and living in different cultures; mostly from stories about the history of Spain and personal anecdotes from people who live their oral traditions as the Granadinos do.
Since the culture of Spain has so many influences in it, as does flamenco. Flamenco by definition is a fusion product. I have had many musical opportunities playing with musicians from other styles — ranging from Klezzmer, Ztiganne (Romanian Gypsy), Indian, jazz, Arabic, Persian — and these have had a liberating influence in my composition process.
What are your personal goals as a guitarist composer and performer? What else do you want to fulfil for yourself, creatively?
My goal as a performer is simply to play as much as I can, and enjoy sharing musical experiences with people all over. I love to learn from all people and cultures and then find them in my music.
What kind of fruit would you be?
I’d be blueberries.
See Adam live at the Guitar Perspectives Winter Celebration, 3 August in the Ian Potter Southbank Centre.The festival runs 2-4 August. Stay tuned for more of our 5-minute interviews with featured guitarists! You can catch up on our first one with Meng Su.
WATCH: Adam del Monte plays Soléa for Pepe Habichuela
About the writer
Rose de La Montaña is a fingerstyle guitarist with a love for solo Latin American guitar music, where classical and contemporary popular guitar styles meet. Rose would be a guava. Find her at mountainroseguitar.com.
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