Ask a roomful of guitarists to name the most coveted instruments of the twentieth century and one name comes up again and again: Ignacio Fleta. The Barcelona maker built the guitars Andrés Segovia turned to at the height of his career, and to this day a fine Fleta is spoken of in the same breath as the rarest treasures of lutherie.
From a family of makers
Fleta was born on 31 July 1897 in Huesa del Común, in the province of Teruel, into a family of cabinet-makers. Music came early — by accounts he could already play the bandurria and guitar well as a boy. At thirteen he left for Barcelona with his two older brothers to study instrument making, learning violin, cello and viol construction largely in the French tradition. In 1927 he left the family firm and opened his own workshop in the city, where he would spend the rest of his life.
The turn to the guitar
For years Fleta built bowed instruments and even reproduced antique instruments — lutes, vihuelas and more — for a Barcelona music society. The decisive moment came in 1955, when he heard Segovia play an all-Bach programme on the radio and resolved to devote himself to the guitar. Two years later, in 1957, he received the commission that would make his name worldwide: the first of three guitars for Segovia himself.
The Fleta sound
Fleta moved deliberately away from the light, transparent Torres ideal toward a heavier, stiffer, more powerful instrument — larger in the body, more heavily braced, built for volume and a deep, singing sustain. He became the master of the cedar top, and his guitars of the 1960s and 70s, his golden period, are famous for their orchestral richness and projection. That is the sound generations of players have chased ever since.
His legacy
The workshop continued as Ignacio Fleta e Hijos with his sons, and the family name remained a byword for quality long after the master himself. Ignacio Fleta died in Barcelona on 11 August 1977. A genuine Fleta from the great years is now one of the most sought-after — and valuable — classical guitars a collector or concert player can own.
FAQ
Why is Ignacio Fleta so famous?
He built guitars for Andrés Segovia from 1957 and became renowned for powerful, rich-sounding cedar-top instruments — among the most coveted of the twentieth century.
What is special about the Fleta sound?
A bigger, stiffer build than the Torres tradition, giving great volume, depth and a long, singing sustain, especially on his cedar tops.
When did he work?
He opened his Barcelona workshop in 1927 and devoted himself to the guitar from the mid-1950s until his death in 1977.
