Plucky Guitarist Impresses Vancouver Fans

Feuillatre with his special foot stands

This afternoon we were blown away by a classical guitarist who performed at the Vancouver Recital Society concert at the Vancouver Playhouse.

The venue was almost sold out which shows there is a strong interest in guitar in the city, and the audience was moved by how Raphael Feuillatre strummed and plucked his classical guitar to bring out beautiful music from his instrument.

He performed transposed works by JS Bach, Francois Couperin, Domenico Scarlatti, Astor Piazzolla, Isaac Albeniz, and Roland Dyens. The range from Baroque to contemporary was fantastic and revealed Feuillatre a well-rounded musician.

His passion for guitar comes through in playing

On stage he sat on a piano bench, cradled the guitar diagonally across his lap and placed his left foot on what looked like a special stand for his foot. Someone later asked if he had special ways of sitting and he just said this was how he sat, and didn't think he had a special way of doing it.

After the concert he came out to do a Q&A. It was revealed Feuillatre was born in Djibouti, Africa in 1996, and by the age of six his parents gave him a plastic guitar to play with. He said even though he liked to listen to pop music, classical music was what really interested him. Luckily he had a good teacher who helped guide him, which led him to move to Paris to further his studies on the guitar.

A woman observed that not once did she hear a squeak from his guitar -- and she was right. When I learned guitar in high school, the squeaks seemed to show you were playing well, but for Feuillatre it was his style not to do that. 

Another asked about the strings he uses and he explained they were from Savarez, who sponsors him; an audience member asked why he kept adjusting the strings and he said because they were new and so he had to keep fixing them to the right tones mid-performance.

Feuillatre (right) talked to the audience after

Feuillatre did mention that one time one of his strings broke during intermission! He does carry extra strings but does not have an extra guitar.

During one piece he shook his right hand and we wondered if his nails were OK and he later said they were; someone asked if he had broken a nail before and he did once but managed to continue; he said he even has fake nails backstage in case something happens! But he only has one day to rest his fingers as he is performing every two days.

When it comes to music for the guitar, he said the repertoire has expanded immensely, particularly contemporary music. However, when someone asked if music for the lute was similar for the guitar, he explained that just by tuning the strings of the guitar slightly then music for the lute could easily be played on the guitar. He said even Bach had transposed some of his music for the lute, and that means for the guitar too.

The cover of one of his albums

He got a question about recordings and he said in his next album he plans to record using a guitar from 300 years ago which is much quieter than guitars today that can be played in large auditoriums. It shows that Feuillatre is keen on creating intimate music for his fans.

One audience member asked about playing flamenco music. While he loves it, he says the style of playing would wreck his nails! Nevertheless, there's a lot of flamenco-esque music that he can play, which satisfies him.

And a middle-aged woman asked him where he lived and if he was single! He bashfully replied he lived in Paris and was in love... with his guitar.

At the end it was revealed that his luggage was lost in Montreal and so he was performing in the clothes he arrived in! We would never have known... living in Europe he was well dressed in a button-down shirt, fitted chinos and tan-coloured shoes. Now if he wore a sweatshirt and sneakers then that would have raised eyebrows!

Johann Sebastian Bach

Prelude No. 1 in C major BWV 846

Francois Couperin

Les Barricades Mysterieuses

Jacques Duphly

Medee

Pancrace Royer

L'Aimable

Johann Sebastian Bach

Concerto in D major BWV 972 (after Vivaldi)

Domenico Scarlatti

Sonata in A major K 208

Miguel Llobet Soles

Variations on a Theme of Sor (La Folla)

Two Catalan folk songs

Julian Arcas

Fantasia on Themes from La Traviata

Isaac Albeniz

Asturias (Leyenda) from Suite espanola No. 1

Francisco Tarrega

Prelude No. 5 in E major

Prelude in F# minor

Prelude No. 6 in D major

Augustin Barrios Mangore

La Catedral

Astor Piazzolla

Adios Nonino

Roland Dyens

Clown Down from Triaela