Ana Vidović plays Recuerdos de la Alhambra by Francisco Tárrega on a guitar by Jim Redgate. Recorded at Siccas Guitars in 2015, it has become the most watched video on our channel, with more than twelve million views.
About Recuerdos de la Alhambra
Few pieces are as closely tied to a single technique as this one. Tárrega wrote Recuerdos de la Alhambra in the 1890s, after a visit to the palace in Granada, and built the whole piece on tremolo. The right hand repeats one melody note in quick succession with the ring, middle and index fingers while the thumb plays the bass and the harmony underneath. If the tremolo is even, the listener hears a single sustained line, almost like a voice or a bowed string. If it is uneven, the illusion falls apart at once.
The piece moves from A minor in the first half to A major in the second, and the change of light is one of its great moments. The difficulty is less the speed than the endurance: the tremolo never stops, and every small irregularity is audible for the full length of the piece.
Our article on Recuerdos de la Alhambra looks at the work in more detail. If you want to work on the technique yourself, Ana Vidović explains her approach in our tremolo tutorial.
About Francisco Tárrega
Tárrega stands at the point where the modern classical guitar begins. His own works are mostly short, but his transcriptions, his teaching and his technical ideas shaped the instrument for the century that followed. Our portrait of Francisco Tárrega follows that influence.
About Ana Vidović
Ana Vidović grew up in Karlovac near Zagreb, started playing at the age of five and at thirteen became the youngest student at the National Musical Academy in Zagreb, in the class of Istvan Romer. She went on to graduate from the Peabody Conservatory. Among her early successes are first prizes at the Albert Augustine International Competition in Bath, the Fernando Sor Competition in Rome and the Francisco Tárrega Competition in Spain. She has played in halls such as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Musikverein in Vienna.
The Guitar
She plays a guitar by the Australian luthier Jim Redgate, who builds a model that carries her name. Redgate is known for modern construction, and the instruments in our Jim Redgate collection include both lattice-braced and double-top guitars. Our guide to fan-braced, double-top and lattice guitars explains what separates them.
Watch the Performance
You can find more of the repertoire in our overview of famous classical guitar pieces.
