Music Reviews : Spanish Guitarist Rafael Riqueni Makes L.A. Debut

An under-promoted “Celebration of Modern Flamenco and World Music”--produced by the ambitious, home-spun Flamenco and World Music Society--seems to have had little impact on the local music consciousness, if the almost endearingly amateurish finale Monday evening at the Wilshire Ebell Concert Hall was any indication.

But the central figure of the celebration was Rafael Riqueni, a young Spanish guitarist of truly phenomenal abilities. Though accomplished in distinctly minor circumstances, his local debut proved a major event artistically.

Riqueni also demonstrated that flamenco nuevo is not entirely lost to fusion lures. Though certainly no slave to the past, he showed a healthy respect for the traditional character of forms such as soleares, siguiriyas, bulerias and fandangos. Though the name and spirit of Paco de Lucia were frequently invoked, Riqueni’s controlled classicism seems to derive more from the influence of Paco Pena.

He played with uncommon clarity, and his technique reflected the logic of his well-ordered creations and adaptations of classically influenced predecessors such as Ramon Montoya.

Riqueni was quite capable of bravura bursts of rhythmic fire, but he also played with delicacy and finesse, emphasizing supremely articulate tremolo throughout two sets. Indeed, pieces like his Garrotin--an almost Kreisler-esque fantasy of elegant wit--would not be out of place on a classical recital.

Fusion trends were much more apparent in the short introductory sets of Alberto de Almar, the Flamenco and World Music Society impresario who also took tickets and set up the stage. His playing, heavy and technically forced at times, peaked interpretively in a Tarantas. He was at his most inventive, however, when he reduced his guitar to pure percussion.

The leisurely program ended with a single, extended cuadro flamenco ensemble number. Lea Santos sang “Come, My Love” in English and a husky, fervent contralto, while the monomial Lourdes took a few tentative dance steps across the small crowded stage. That effort died when she knocked a microphone into Riqueni, whose lightning solo leads drove the piece.