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A native of St. Petersburg, Russia, Grisha Goryachev is renowned for his extraordinary musical sensitivity and technical virtuosity in both classical and flamenco styles. Grisha is one of very few guitarists in the world who is reviving the tradition of solo flamenco guitar in a concert setting that was practiced by legendary flamenco masters such as Ramón Montoya and Sabicas.Grigory Goryachev began to play the guitar at the age of six, studying first with his father, Dmitry, an acknowledged master teacher of the instrument. Following his debut at the age of nine, Mr. Goryachev enjoyed an extensive career as a child prodigy, performing regularly before large audiences in the most prestigious concert halls of St. Petersburg, Moscow, Minsk, Riga, and other major cities in the then Soviet Union.Following a tour of Spain, Goryachev was invited to play for flamenco legend, Paco de Lucía, who soon after personally intervened in support of his application for an American visa (subsequently awarded in the year 1997 on the basis of Extraordinary Ability)Since coming to the United States, Mr. Goryachev has continued his lifelong love affair with flamenco while deepening his involvement with the classical style. His repertoire now includes classical solos, chamber music and guitar concertos and more than six hours of flamenco solos by such composers as Paco de Lucía, Vicente Amigo, Manolo Sanlucar, Rafael Riqueni, and others. As the flamenco repertoire is for the most part unpublished, Mr. Goryachev has performed the somewhat incredible feat of transcribing entirely by ear from the recordings. Grisha strives to keep alive older flamenco masterpieces that now exist only on records, by performing them in concerts. Grisha exposes the audiences to some of the best guitar compositions flamenco has to offer. Instead of merely copying, he creates his own interpretations of these masterpieces, using dynamics and tone colors usually associated with classical music.
Looks like I missed him in Tempe by about a month. Wish I were going to be there to see him. Enjoy his performance, Miguel. Maybe you can get together with him afterward, have a beer, and commiserate.
Cheers,
Bill
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And the end of the fight is a tombstone white, With the name of the late deceased, And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here, Who tried to hustle the East."
Saw Grisha last night. Katzin Hall is a small hall with good acoustics. The program was about 90% flamenco, 10% classical. Some Rodrigo, Albeniz, then on to the Sabicas, Riqueni, Manolo de Sanlucar, Vicente, Paco. Really an amazing display of virtuosity and excellent playing. It's one thing to listen to these pieces on the mp3 player, another to see a human being sit down and reel them off, one after another. The blistering scales were in full effect! I mean, Monastario del Sal? Brisas? Impetu? all that stuff... A quote from another guitarist sitting next to me: "His scales are like a woman's a**--I never get tired of them." Actually the guy said it to me three times, and unfortunately there was a woman with two young daughters sitting right in front of us. Grisha gets a great tone out of his DeVoe, and his phrasing in lyrical sections was gorgeous. He really seemed to get into his playing and gave a lot of energy and intensity. The audience enjoyed it, smiling in childish delight with the scales and the rasgueados and compas. Unfortunately, I was the only one who knew how to say Ole, and I only did it at the ends of songs because I didn't want to get thrown out by all the classical guitarists in black turtenecks and wire-rimmed glasses. The audience liked Grisha's humble, sincere manner and gave him a standing ovation for the ending Paco bulerias. Seeing how successful and well-received was his playing makes one realize that flamenco compositions do have a place in the concert hall.
On a personal note, it was a great delight to meet the G-man after knowing him here on the forum since 2004 or so! It felt like meeting an old friend although it was the first time we've met. We are all so lucky to have this forum to bring people together, and so lucky to have members like Grisha and our other stars. Other guitarists in attendence agreed that his virtuosity measured up to the top artists we have ever seen in concert.
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